Until the Day I Stumble
by BluBooThalassophile
Summary: In a fragile healing war torn world love was blossoming, slowly taking root and sprouting upwards into the light again. The only problem, she doesn't know how to get his attention, and he's the most oblivious man on the planet; however, he's noticing her slowly. Kami help the most impatient woman to get his attention as they healed from a war which had shattered the world.
1. Part 1: Chapter 1

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

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After the Fourth Great Shinobi War the injured were dispersed throughout the Shinobi Allied Forces for care and treatment of psychological traumas and the physical wounds sustained in battle. Shinobi were taken to the village which would suit the needs of their injuries. Many of the critically injured and dying were taken to the Leaf for treatment; among them were:

-Jinchūriki; Uzumai Naruto

-Jinchūriki; Killer B

-Hatake Kakashi

-Raikage; A

-Mizukage; Mei

-Kazekage; Gaara

-Hokage; Tsunade

-Nara Shikamaru

-Temari

-Sai

-Yamanaka Ino

-Akimichi Chōji

And the renowned criminal and rogue-nin:

-Uchiha Sasuke

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 **Chapter 1**

Ino woke up with a dull ache in her soul as she turned her head and looked around the hospital room she had woken up in. Turning her head she found herself looking at the inky black eyes that always had her heart stuttering a bit as she stared at him.

"Hello," he said softly, she smiled a bit at his sweet answer as she looked back at the ceiling. She had lost her father, and she was so terrified she'd never made him proud of her. After all, she was his daughter, and she hadn't really been spectacular at being a kunoichi. She wasn't Tsunade's star pupil, she wasn't the best with the Yamanaka secret family jutsu and she wasn't anything really special. Her breath hitched as she closed her eyes and tried to steady herself as she lay there.

"Do you need me to get Sakura, Beautiful?" he asked, her eyes flew open then as she looked over to Sai. He'd always sent her heart fluttering and stuttering, and all sorts of other nonsense that had her losing her typical confidence faltering. The strangest part in her mind, was he was the most socially challenged man on the face of the planet, and he had her stumbling, tripping and shy.

"No, I'm good, she's probably busy anyways," Ino smiled.

"No, Ugly is just guarding the traitor," Sai informed her. Ino's head snapped over to him as she stared at his description of Sakura, and of who she was protecting.

"You mean Sakura's taking care of Sasuke?" Ino asked as she slowly sat up. However, her stabbing pain in her side had her hissing in pain as she grabbed her broken ribs. Fuck! She forgot how much broken ribs hurt!

"Yes, but Ugly is guarding the traitor as well, she sent someone flying from the hospital the other day," Sai informed her with a smile as he lay there.

"Really?"

"Yes, she sent a Cloud-nin flying from the hospital with a punch," he said in his cheery tone which had her snickering, she winced then groaned as she fell back against the pillows. This sucked, she hated broken ribs!

"That's Sakura," she decided. "How about you, Sai? How are you holding up?"

"Three broken ribs, a concussion, two fractured vertebra, a broken arm, and a five fractured bones in my hand, a fractured tibia, and broken femur," he answered her as they lay there.

"Ow," she moaned, she was lucky and only had broken ribs, that she could feel.

"They have given me wonderful medication and care, I do not feel it," he said cheerful. She smiled at him as she sat there hugging her ribs.

"Hmm, they need to give me those drugs," she mused.

"I can ask a medic who is still up to get you the medication," he answered her. She turned to smile at him in amusement as they lay there in the hospital.

"No, that's alright, Sai, I'm good," she assured him as she gingerly rubbed her ribs.

"Alright, Ugly said to tell her when you woke up," he said.

"You can call her Sakura," she pointed out in laughter as she lay there as she winced, hugged her ribs again, and then curled on her good side then.

"Yes, but nicknames are for bonding between teammates," Sai insisted. She snickered again as she hugged her ribs then.

"Yes, but I don't think Sakura likes being called 'Ugly'," Ino mused.

"Hm… she has never seemed to mind," Sai said seriously. She smiled as she noticed the serious way he started pondering this.

"Really, Sai? Really? She slugs you all the time you call her that?" she turned her head, she smiled at Naruto leaning on the frame of the door holding his IV as he grinned.

"Ugly would've told me if she minded, Dickless," Sai insisted.

"Hey Naruto," she smiled.

"I Am Not Dickless!" Naruto roared as he hobbled in to the crowded room and took a seat then. "Hey Ino," Naruto smiled.

"Where's Sakura?" Ino asked.

"She's guarding Sasuke, he's unconscious before you ask," Naruto said and she frowned.

"Is anyone with her?" Ino softly inquired. If she was dealing with Sasuke, Ino didn't want Sakura to be alone.

"No," Naruto tilted his head as he thought this over. She slowly got up, wincing at every move as she grabbed the IV she was hooked up to.

"Naruto, you can have my bed for the time being, what floor is Sasuke on?" Ino asked, she noticed the other broken Leaf shinobi here as she got to her feet then. Carefully she walked out, her ribs were singing in pain with every step she took.

"Top floor, northwest corner, she won't move," Naruto informed Ino.

"Of course she won't, Sakura's the second most stubborn person ever born," Ino pointed out as she slowly made her way to the door.

"Who's the first?" Sai asked her.

"The moron she happens to be in love with!" Ino snapped as she hobbled through the hospital which was over flowing with the injured from this war. The civilian doctors hurried about with the shinobi medics, however, she only noticed that her pink friend was nowhere to be seen as she made her way through the moaning, the pained, and the dying to the elevator. Hitting the button to go up she waited for the elevator and fought her tears back by sheer will power as she waited for the elevator. She could hold herself together for the moment. She could hold herself up.

Once the elevator was there she got in and went to the top floor to hunt up her pink friend. Slowly she made her way up to the top floor, when the elevator dinged she was greeted with one very crossed looking pinkette.

"If you're coming for him I swear!" she started then blinked.

"Hey Sakura," she smiled weakly. "Heard you could use some company."

"Hey Ino, you shouldn't be up, come on," she said as she guided her towards the bench then.

"How are you doing Sakura?" Ino asked softly.

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"How is Ugly doing?" Sai asked the moment Naruto took a seat on Ino's bed.

"Sakura's holding up." Naruto answered grimly.

"What happened to your arm, Dickless?" Sai asked. Naruto scowled at him but didn't fight him on the nickname. Sai wondered why that was, but he didn't dwell too much on it as he waited for Naruto to speak.

"War, Sasuke lost his too so we're even!" Naruto smiled foxishly, Sai just sighed. That wasn't a good answer, mostly because even he could figure out what it meant. Naruto and Sasuke had obviously had a fight, and it had obviously ended up with Naruto losing his arm, and from what Naruto was saying, Sasuke had also lost his arm. He wasn't too certain that was something to be smiling about though.

"What did you two do?" he asked him.

"Nothing really, just hashed out a few things, and the teme apologized! I'm the best!" Naruto declared childishly as he sat there grinning. Sai didn't say anything to this because he didn't think Sakura was too happy about that. She was probably furious with Sasuke and Naruto for having tried to kill each other. She had every right to be pissed at those two, he knew it but he couldn't find it in him to be angry with Naruto. After all, Naruto was like his brother, Shin, and it always made him feel accepted. Even for his blunders. However, he was worried about Ugly.

Though she hid it well, he knew she did, he had spent a lot of time analyzing and deciphering the mysteries of Haruno Sakura and knew just how much the traitor and dickless meant to her. The perv and creepy eyes also meant a lot to her, but he knew she valued the traitor and dickless the most. She also valued him, like a brother, and had even been helping him with people since she had found him in the library reading about human interactions. But she must be in a lot of pain right now, her family had tried to kill each other.

"And Ugly is alright with this?" Sai inquired.

"Uh… she hasn't hit me yet so… yes?" Naruto didn't sound too certain about this however Sai was not going to press the matter. He'd bug Sakura about it later.

"Who won the war?" Sai asked then.

"We did! But you should know this, or did that blow to your head take out your memories with your manners?" Naruto asked flatly. Sai smiled pleasantly then.

"At least I have manners," he pointed out flatly which had Naruto's jaw dropping as they sat there and then Naruto started yelling at him all sorts of obscenities.

"I leave you two alone for fifteen minutes and you're at each other's throats!" a voice sliced through Naruto's shouting and he looked to Ino who was walking into the room perfectly alright. She looked more annoyed than anything as she stalked over to Naruto. "Sakura wasn't kidding to keep you two separate, Naruto, Sakura's asking for you by the way, and Sai, I'm here with you until you're healed. She said she'd be by when Kakashi relieved her to come fix a few of your bones, you'll need surgery to fix your hand, it's worse than just fractures; she's been examining your x-rays and preparing to do that. However, I'm to fix your leg while I'm up. She just healed my ribs."

Beautiful chattered away nervously as she walked to him. He noticed how much easier the blonde was moving as Naruto left him.

"What did Ugly want with Dickless?" Sai asked once Naruto was gone.

"Nothing, but she said to use that as an excuse to separate you two," she answered. "Now, hold still, I'm going to try to fix your leg and I don't have much chakra right now."

"Please, do not trouble yourself," he insisted. His leg was fine, the pain killers the nurses and medics had him on had him feeling lighter than a cloud and as high as a kite, he was quite content at this moment as he sat there smiling. However, the pale pupil-"less eyes of the Yamanaka glared back at him balefully which had him panicking a bit and wondering if he should hit the button Ugly had left him to call for help should he need it. Beautiful had the same mean look in her eyes that Ugly also got just before he was punched and laying on the ground in an immense amount of pain.

"Do you doubt my skills as a medic?" she demanded in a sharp tone which had his hazy mind snapping to attention. Though he didn't doubt that the Yamanaka woman was strong he did not think her as strong as Ugly, but he would still prefer to avoid being struck than not. He was in enough pain as it was, and if it weren't for the 'happy drugs' he was on then he'd probably be a ball of blubbering pain.

"N-no, Beautiful, I did not want you to waste your chakra on me if you didn't need to use it," he stammered earnestly. It was truthfully his reason for insisting she not bother with aiding him. Ugly would pummel him to a bloody pulp if her best friend collapsed after having aided him in healing.

"Well, I'm doing this so shut up Sai," Ino said firmly.

"Yes ma'am," he squeaked out, but he watched her closely as she placed her cool slim fingers on the skin of his elevated leg and he felt her chakra spread over his leg as she gently started prodding in him. He did not react as he watched her focus, it was when he saw her waver that he slowly reached out and touched her before she could collapse. Ino stumbled a step from his hand then tripped to sit on the bed before she fell onto her side and sighed.

"Fricking useless!" she hissed.

"Thank you Beautiful," he said when he looked at his once throbbing leg and it felt… normal again. "I feel much better, but you shouldn't tax yourself," he said with a smile.

She stared at him, then she smiled slightly as she fell asleep. He just looked around the full hospital room of the moaning and pained, and wished his writing hand wasn't broken because he desperately wanted to paint. Painting or drawing would sooth his nerves, it always had.

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 **I** **have other 'Until the Day I...' stories with entwined events and over lapping time lines they a** **re:**

 **-Until the Day I Act [Shikamaru & Temari]**

 **-Until the Day I Die [Sasuke & Sakura]**

 **-Until the Day I Happen [** **Chōji** ** & Karui]**

 **-Until the Day I Love [Naruto & Hinata]**

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 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	2. Part 1: Chapter 2

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 2**

The death of her father weighed heavily on her, she had never had a chance to make him proud and it was killing her on the inside as she lay there trying not to sob like a hopeless child. She was still in the hospital like so many a week after the war just simply because of chakra depletion. Hers was nowhere near as bad as Chōji's; who was still passed out across the way from her. her curtain was tossed back then giving her a jolt as she found herself looking at bright green eyes, and brilliant frazzled pink hair.

"Hey Ino, I have someone here who wants to take you for a walk and talk," Sakura said as she stood up straight.

"I don't want to go," Ino sighed, as she turned back on her side.

"Yamanak Ino, I think this is something you need to do, besides, he was a friend of your father's and he really wants to talk to you," Sakura said softly as she came around the bed. Ino stared at her friend when Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder and crouched to her level. "I think you should walk with him; he really wants to talk to you. Also, I have twenty minutes to sleep, Kakashi's guarding Sasuke, and I'm hiding from Naruto at the moment to get said sleep. So either leave your bed and go for the walk, or I'll kick your ass out of the bed and let him drag you for the walk."

"You wouldn't!" Ino gasped.

"Try me, I've been up for fifty-three hours, I'm exhausted," Sakura promptly stated as she stood.

"Who is he?" Ino grumbled as she slowly sat up, her body felt woozy.

"Me, Morino Ibiki" she turned her head to stare over her shoulder at a horribly scarred man, her eyes widened and he smiled kindly to her, Ino grabbed her IV to hoist herself up. True to Sakura's word she dove into the bed and disappeared beneath the covers.

"See you in twenty Ibiki!" Sakura yawned.

"I'll get you later, rest up kid, there's more wounded." Ibiki said as Ino slowly made her way to the man, he looked like a sadist honestly and she had never really spoken to him but she knew her father had loved working with him. When she neared him she was leaning heavily on her IV, he offered her his arm then which she hesitated to take. "I'm not going to bite you princess, come on," he enticed.

"Go Beautiful," she looked over to Sai who smiled his creepy smile but she smiled in return as she took his arm.

"Ugly you look uglier than usual," she heard Sai inform Sakura.

"I'll be back in twenty minutes to kick your ass for that Sai," Sakura sleepily mumbled.

Ino chuckled as she held her IV in one hand and leaned onto Ibiki as he guided her out of the room and down the hall. It was when they made it to the hospital gardens that he finally spoke.

"Your father… he was a good man and a very dear friend," Ibiki said slowly. She looked to the ground and wished the world around her was not as grey in appearance as she felt. "However, he's gone now, and he wouldn't want you to mope around and wilt away. Also, he wanted you to be looked after and given this opportunity, he had thought you to be ready."

Ibiki guided her to a bench and they both sat.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Ino finally admitted.

"Your father asked me to look after you if anything were to happen to him," Ibiki said calmly. Her eyes welled up with tears then as she stared at her lap.

"Oh," she mumbled. She was just to be shoved off like another burden onto a stranger at her father's request. Ino didn't like the thought, sure she had been an asset in war, but everyone continuously pointed out that using any of her family's mind jutsus made her useless for combat. She was just a spoiled princess who knew useless jutsu, and was average at medical ninjutsu. She hated this, she hated being so weak and useless. She hated that everyone just decided to treat her like she were a burden rather than useful. Suddenly a heavy hand on her head had her snapping out of her thoughts as she peeked up at Ibiki who wasn't looking at her.

"Before the war he asked me to take you on as an apprentice, thought you'd have the knack for interrogating the enemy for intel. He said you could get Shikamaru and Chōji to fess up to anything, and you were good at getting into people's heads without your family's jutsu, and you could get under people's skin. He thought you'd make an excellent interrogator."

"He did?" Ino blinked.

"Yes, after the war he wanted to talk to you about this," Ibiki said calmly as he pulled his heavy hand from her head then. She stared at her lap then looked to the man beside her.

"And what do you think?" she asked softly.

"I know what you did in the war, kid, and Inoichi couldn't have done what you did without the aid of the machines to enhance his mind's power and direct his chakra. I must say, that was impressive, princess," Ibiki mused.

"It wasn't anything special." She mumbled, a slight blush was on her cheeks despite her wants.

"It was, and I've decided to at least try to honor Inoichi's request and offer to let you train as my apprentice in the Intelligence Unit," Ibiki said.

"I thought you worked in Torture and Interrogation," she said.

"Pussy are renaming it to be friendlier," he said sourly and she laughed a real laugh for the first time since her father had died in the war and it felt good as she smiled at this terrifying man with joy that he wasn't seeing her as a princess or golden girl.

"Do I get to have the awesome coat?" she asked sweetly.

"Of course, we're not savages," he ruffled her hair and she grinned. Her smile faltered though for a moment when she remembered her father. She didn't even have a body to bury for him, and she wanted to remember him.

"Can you tell me about my father?" she asked softly.

"Where to begin…" Ibiki started and she listened intently for the next twenty minutes.

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The moment Beautiful was gone Ugly sat up looked at the door then was over to him as she leaned over him. Sai blinked at the exhaustion he was seeing in Ugly's eyes though she was hiding it well; again, and he flinched slightly at the fierceness in her eyes.

"I need a favor Sai," she said it suddenly and he blinked.

"Uh…" he looked at his battered body which was bandaged and propped up and then at Sakura who was staring at him with determined eyes.

"It's about Ino," she elaborated.

"What do you want Ugly?" he asked suspiciously.

"I need you to let her look after you," Sakura said and she sat on his bed. "I don't want her to feel useless, or hopeless; and face it helping your hopeless ass might cheer her up a little and give her a purpose. Also, I'm busy with Sasuke and the critical patients, I need you to watch out for her so she doesn't get extremely depressed. Please Sai, it's important, I also need to know you're being looked after by someone I trust as well," Sakura explained as she rubbed her brow then.

He knew Ugly was exhausted, it wasn't just the bags under her eyes, it was the way she swayed slightly as she sat on his bed, the way she rubbed her brow, and the desperation with which she spoke.

"Why do you need to know I'm being looked after?" he asked as he stared at her ludraciously, he understood her need to look out for Naruto and Sasuke but not him. The pinkette stared at him with unblinking, exhausted, green eyes.

"Because Sai, you're like my brother," she said firmly. He blinked as his own eyes widened at her declaration. "I love you, I need to know you're alright, and I love Ino and I need to know she'll be alright. Do this for me Sai," she said softly.

"Alright Ugly," he decided.

She rolled her eyes.

"Great, I have nineteen minutes, then I'll kick your ass, night!" she dove right back into Ino's bed and he smiled at her antics as he let her fall asleep. She was out like a light and he couldn't get her words out of his head as he looked around the hospital room.

He had always cared deeply about Sakura, ever since she had asked him about his paintings with genuine interest. After that he let her look at all of his drawings immediately and would ask her opinion, she always seemed to genuinely love them and would smile at him with an affection, he was guessing to be pride, now. She had also always been the one explaining human interactions to him, though Naruto was the one trying to explain her to him.

However, trying to explain Haruno Sakura was like trying to explain why sakura bloomed pink, or why the rain fell from the sky rather than rose from the earth, or why the moon existed and never interacted with the sun. There were a million and one explanations for why Sakura was Sakura, and there were none, she just simply was and she was probably his best friend when he thought about it. But now that she had declared him to be like her brother he guessed that made her like his sister.

Time passed in relative silence, aside from the moans of the injured and dying and the quiet words of medics and religious leaders offering redemption the hospital was silent. His head snapped over to the door of the overcrowded room when the door rattled softly. Again there was a weird tightening in his chest, the same one he often times received when he saw the sunny blonde; and she appeared on the arm of the horribly scarred man she had left with. He smiled as she quietly made her way to his bed, he was shocked when she sat on his bed then and stared at Sakura.

"Alright princess, we'll talk details after things settle a bit," Morino Ibiki said to her.

"Thanks Ibiki," Ino smiled, Sai's breath hitched at the sight of Beautiful's smile for some reason. He didn't understand, Ugly smiled all the time to him, but none of the smiles had affected him the way Beautiful's had since he had first met her. Sai had never said anything about this oddity before the war, and he wouldn't say anything about it now. It was just too weird in his mind that he only had these strange reactions to Beautiful rather than any other woman.

"Kay, pinky, time to get up," Ibiki snapped.

"Five more minutes," Sakura grumbled. Sai smiled then.

"Ugly, traitor's trying to kill dickless," he tried.

" _ **WHAT!?**_ " she bolted out of the room faster than any of them could blink and Ino laughed her musical laugh as she slowly made her way to her bed, Ibiki just blinked at the door.

"I did not get any of that," Ibiki admitted. Ino just laughed harder as he smiled a pleasant smile as he sat there full of pride at having gotten Sakura awake and moving. She was the biggest pain in the ass to wake, and the most dangerous person to wake with her vicious strength and temper.

"Sasuke's trying to kill Naruto," Ino filled Ibiki in.

"Well, it got her moving," the man shrugged. "I'll be back later, princess, I have rounds to make."

"Thanks again Ibiki," Ino smiled and then she looked to him. "What did you and Sakura discuss?"

"Nothing," he said since he didn't think she'd want to hear what Sakura had asked of him.

* * *

 **Alright, for those of you who don't already know I've posted four counter pieces for my 'Until the Day I..." stories:**

 **-Until the Day I Act [Shikamaru & Temari]**

 **-Until the Day I Happen [Ch** **ōji & Karui]**

 **-Until the Day I Love [Naruto & Hinata]**

 **-Until the Day I Stumble [Sai & Ino]**

 **-Before the Day I Die & Until the Day I Die [Sasuke & Sakura]**

 **PLEASE GIVE FEEDBACK ON THEM BECAUSE I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING WITH THE OTHER PAIRINGS IN TERMS OF HOW YOU LIKE THEM OR HOW IN CHARACTER THEY ARE!**

 **I know how to write Sasuke and Sakura. I'm going to be straight up and honest about that, I know how to write them and make them alright; I have no fucking clue how I'm doing with other couples though so a little input would be appreciated. If you don't want to review on the other stories that's fine I'm just going to try to go with them also.**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	3. Part 1: Chapter 3

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 3**

"Ino," she heard a voice enticing her to wake again, but she didn't really want to. Ino wanted to sleep, she was so tired, tired from crying and grieving, and thinking over Ibiki's very tempting offer s she'd be useful again.

"Go away," she mumbled and rolled over.

"Ino, come on, wake up Pig or I'll drag you out of bed!" Sakura's voice hissed.

"Stupid Forehead, go away, sleeping now," Ino snarled.

"That's it!" her covers were ripped off her body and she felt a firm, cool hand grab her arm as she was literally dragged out of her bed.

"What the!?"

"Two weeks of everyone moping around, everyone whining, and crying; no one wants to get the work done; fucking useless!" Sakura was grumbled as Ino was dragged after her pink friend. "Time to grieve later, work has to get done; can't believe no one sees that."

"Sakura! what is it!?" Ino finally demanded.

"Shut up and tell me what you are seeing!" Sakura ordered, Ino blinked when Sakura flicked the lights on then and Ino's eyes widened at the sight of the images of the hands she was seeing.

"A lot worse than a broken hand, these tendens are severed, those are crushed, and the muscles look like they've been shredded. Who's hand is this?" Ino said as she looked Sakura who was propping herself up on the wall.

"Sai's," Sakura answered coldly which had Ino's eyes widening as her head wipped around to look the screens over again, the images, and the damage done to Sai's hand.

"Sakura… but his jutsu…" Ino whimpered.

"I know, why do you think I demanded you lazy ass here for a consult, Pig?" Sakura sniped with a fox grin.

"Why not talk to Tsunade, I thought she was awake?" Ino pointed out.

"She is, but chakra depletion at this moment is her largest problem and Shizune won't leave her until we're both certain her chakra levels are stable again to have her helping us out here," Sakura said.

"Oh," Ino bit her knuckle then as she looked over Sai's hand again. "Well… I can help…" she offered hesitantly because she wasn't the best medic ever and her doctoring skills were iffy.

"You know, I was relying on you to offer your help," Sakura grinned, Ino just stared in shock at those green eyes of her best friend/rival. "I'm too chakra deplete to do the entire surgery on my own, and I know you're thinking of Ibiki's offer right now; he told me what he offered; and I'm going to say go for it; I am, I think you'll be amazing at it Ino. But right this minute, I need help and I will beg you to help me if I have to. I need to save Sai's hand."

"Alright, what do you need me to do?" Ino asked her. Sakura grinned then.

"Would you particularly mind taking Sai as your personal patient for his physical therapy after we perform this surgery?"

* * *

Sai stared at the images the girls had handed him, and then he looked up to them and back at the images.

"Ugly?" he said softly.

"If we don't do the surgery, Sai, I garrentee you will never paint, write or draw again; you will barely be able to hold a plate in your hand. But… do you trust me?" Sakura demanded in a sharp tone which had him looking up to the exhausted pinkette.

"Yes Ugly," he answered.

"Good, because Yamanaka Ino and I will be saving your hand, you just need to trust us," Sakura said.

"Are you certain about this Ugly?" Sai asked. He was a member of Root, he had the basics of medical knowledge and this did not look good even to the untrained eye.

"If I can save Uchiha Sasuke, then I sure as hell can save you as well Sai; you're like my brother, remember?" she pointed out as a soft, genuine smile spread her lips and he felt his lips turning up in a real smile in return.

"As long as I don't turn out like dickless," Sai said cheerily, and both the girls started laughing as they stood there. He decided he really liked Beautiful's laugh, it was like spring; all warm and light.

"No promises, but we'll patch you up and I'll take care of your physical therapy afterwards because Sakura's in charge of the Uchiha," Beautiful informed him. Sai felt his breathing hitch, and the weird tightening in his chest again at her words and receiving her attention.

"Is that alright with you Sai?" Sakura asked.

He nodded because he didn't trust his tongue. It felt like Danzo's curse mark was on it again preventing him from speaking then.

Sakura smiled broadly then.

"Good, Ino get him prepped, I'm going to go brief Kakashi since he's the guard right now," Sakura disappeared then leaving him with Ino which had him looking her over carefully.

He had learnt in the past week alone she could never cease talking, humming or making noise, and she was nosey. The scariest part was he never minded it, and that scared him because should any other woman do that he'd have begged them for silence. Ugly didn't talk as much or make as much noise as Beautiful did. However, at this moment he'd have killed for silence for a minute right now; the news was overwhelming him.

"Hey, ready Sai, I'm going to prep you for the surgery," Ino's voice grabbed his attention then.

"Alright," he nodded and he stared at the casted hand which Sakura had been working on for two weeks to heal. Now he was going to have surgery on it.

"It's going to be alright Sai, promise," Beautiful smiled then and his chest tightened again. He was going to have to read more books on this phenomenon when he was out of the hospital.

"You do not need to promise me anything, Beautiful," he smiled then. She said nothing but gave him a stern look; he'd have to ask Ugly about it later.

* * *

It was eight hours, eight hours!; after the surgery when she and Sakura stumbled out of the surgery and returned Sai to his room. Sakura looked like she was a little more tired than when she had started the surgery, Ino was trembling as she held herself up by sheer will. If Sakura could do this; then damn it all, so could she! Ino was just as tough as Sakura!

"Ino! Chōji said you were in surgery, what happened!?" she looked up to see Shikamaru jogging towards her.

"Hey Shikamaru!" she smiled at him then, he caught her when she wavered.

"She's fine, Shikamaru, she's just chakra depleted, thanks for your help in the surgery Ino," Sakura said and Ino didn't get to reply because a a nurse shouted for Sakura then, Sakura was gone before they could blink. Shikamaru caught her when she stumbled, after all, he was usually the one catching. After all, he was her family, and her brother and a member of Ino-Shika-Chō; that made him important to her, and she to him.

"I'm good," she huffed out.

"Sure you are, let's get you back to your room," Shikamaru said, she held onto his arm as she stumbled along with him. Funny how she could always rely on him to catch her, she thought dryly, and she wanted to be strong…

"Chōza says the memorial will be held in a week for Dad and Uncle Inoichi," Shikamaru said softly. Ino bit her lip then as she pressed her face to his shoulder to hide the pain assaulting her heart and cutting her up inside.

"I'll talk to Sakura about being discharged," she replied softly. "He'd want to be buried with Mom, it's better this way."

"Ino," Shikamaru started.

"Don't, you know how dad was with mom, it's really… it's better for them this way, they'd only be half of what they were without each other," she admitted bitterly as she remembered her mother and father. They were… they were each other's other halves, together they were complete. After the Pain assault; though Pain had returned the lives of the villagers he had taken, her mother had perished beneath the rubble where their shop had been. It had devastated her father, literally broken him, she had had to hold onto him to keep him together, he didn't want to do anything; he hadn't even wanted to live after they had found her mother and buried her.

But then there had been the war. And as much as it hurt to admit, this was probably for the best, they were together again and that was what her father would want. He wouldn't be able to live without her mom here, and he wouldn't be able to tolerate the post war village they were vainly trying to rebuild because he had always hated the Yamanaka compound and home, he had loved living in the village over the flower shop. Her dad had loved the life of bign in the center of the village, but Ino was thinking she wanted the peace and silence of the Yamanaka compound for the time being.

"It doesn't mean I don't miss him," Shikamaru murmured.

"I know, and I miss him and Uncle Shikaku also," she mumbled as she held the tears back by sheer will power.

"I do too," he said and they walked into the room where Sai was still sleeping, the wounded were overflowing and healing. Chōji was sitting in the bed with a sling on his arm and she smiled at him as he quietly munched on some chips a nurse had smuggled in for him at her request.

"How are you feeling Chōji?" she asked as she wobbled to her bed and crawled into it. Sai was sleeping in the bed next to her, Sakura had said he'd be out for another few hours with the anesthetic they had pumped into him for the surgery.

"Weak, no chakra, but better. Thanks for fixing my arm a bit yesterday." He smiled, she gave him a watery smile in return.

"I'm glad to see you doing better, Chōji," Shikamaru announced and he looked relieved. Ino smiled to herself as she watched her boys chat for a bit. There was still an underlying pulse of grief and pain between them all; after all Shikaku and her father were family to them, and the Ino-Shika-Chō team bonding made them closer than even normal teammates.

"Hey, how's Kurenai and Mirai doing?" Shikamaru asked.

"They're residing at the Yamanaka compound right now, with the Haruno family; I asked them to go there when I saw Kurenai when I woke up; I wanted them somewhere where I knew they were safe," Ino answered earnestly. It was one of the first conversations she had had aside from chatting with Sai. So maybe day three after the war, or there abouts, and she had also told Sakura to send her family to the Yamanaka compound because she knew the bakery had been blown to bits in the Pain assault; after all, it was maybe a block away from her family's flower shop.

"Thank you Ino," Shikamaru seemed relieved.

"Asuma was my sensei too, you know," she defended.

"I know, I'll go see them tomorrow," Shikamaru decided.

"Kurenai was asking about you," Ino admitted as she looked down at her lap.

"Thanks Ino," Shikamaru smiled at her as he touched her shoulder. She looked up to him and then decided to tell both of her boys the offer she had received from the Intelligence unit then.

"Morino Ibiki offered me an apprenticeship," she announced and both the boys blinked at her as she held her chin up high then. "And I'm taking it, I'm going to go work in Intelligence."

"But Ino…!" Shikamaru started and she glared at him through her lashes.

"My father thought I would be good at it, and I want to know more about what else my family's jutsu can do so I'm not useless anymore," she stated firmly.

"But Ino, we've never thought you were useless," Chōji stammered out.

"I'm tired of needing you two to catch me, I'm going to do this," Ino stated firmly.

"Ino, are you certain you want to work in Toture and Interrogation?" Shikamaru persisted.

"It's Intelligence now, and yes," she nodded her head. Though internally she wasn't entirely certain about doing this. It was not going to be easy, but she was through with easy, she was going to help Sakura out with Sai, but after that she was going to prove herself to be just as great of a kunoichi as the once crybaby Haruno Sakura.

* * *

 **Alrighty, before you all decide to hate me I'm going to explain something.**

 **-I've only seen Ino's mom in the anime, I've read over the manga and looked for her but I have not seen her. This is my idea of a post war story and with war comes loss, sadly, so don't hate me for this decision.**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	4. Part 1: Chapter 4

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 4**

Ino had spent a week with helping Sai out with walking around, she knew that he was not accustomed to her caring for him for he seemed rather uncertain around her. Ino thought this to be adorable but since yesterday when Chōji had tracked Sakura down to have her sign her discharge papers he had become her only 'patient'. After the last three weeks of being around him and having him turning her into a blundering, babbling fool she had come to the conclusion that it was his fault for her set backs rather than her own short comings. So far he was the only male in the history of men or boys to have her stuttering, stumbling, and tripping over herself.

Part of her despised him for this, the part of her that had the reputation of being the Yamanaka Princess.

But the other part of her, the part that hated being useless and the part which never felt good enough, liked how he just accepted the fool she could be.

Then again Sai was oblivious. According to Sakura he was 'learning' to be human, he had been a member of Root and all of what that entailed she didn't exactly know all of what that entailed. However, Sai was the most awkward human being she had ever met, he often said things which she knew normal people didn't say or think to say and he was blunt enough in what he was saying that there were times she found herself trying not to yell at him that people didn't say that in public.

But she never could yell at him, she'd scold him; because Sakura was the yeller and she'd slug Sai, patch him up and then yell at him more. Ino didn't operate that way, no; she was tempted to use her family's mind jutsu on him just to know why he was like this.

But it didn't matter as she looked through the hospital looking for Sai who had slipped out of the room earlier in the morning.

"Looking for something princess," a voice mused behind her which had her spinning around.

"Morino!" she gasped.

"Ibiki, please," he smiled and she softened then and he walked to her as he offered her his elbow. Ino took it and leaned on him. She may have physically been fine but the moment she regained any of her chakra she was healing Sai and now Sai was missing.

Sakura was going to kill her!

"So, have you thought about the offer?" Ibiki asked her as they slowly walked the hall.

"Yes, and I want to do it, but not right now," she admitted. He gave her a curious look then and she decided to elaborate her reasonings. "My best friend, Doctor Haruno Sakura, has asked me to take care of her friend who's really more like her brother, and I said I would. I want to do the apprenticeship in Intelligence but I just… I don't want to let Sakura down either. She'd been doing so much for me already, and I just… I don't want to let her down."

"This Sai, what's wrong with him?" Ibiki asked her.

"Broken bones mostly, but his hand will be requiring physical therapy; Sakura is thinking it will take six to eight months for him to be healed and at least able to use his hand. She's offered to take over once she knows what she's doing with Sasuke; the Uchiha, and what his fate is. Depending on that she said she'd take over Sai's rehab or leave it to my care.

"If he's staying in my care I want to be there for him," Ino finally admitted in a hurried breath of an explanation which had Ibiki softening as they walked.

"You're a good kid, Ino," he admitted. "We'll discuss your apprenticeship then after the fate of the Uchiha is known, and we'll work from there. If anything, perhaps you can just work on your family's jutsu and practicing using that until you can come work for us as my apprentice."

"Really!? I can still be an apprentice even if I can't come immediately!?" she asked excitedly. She was eager to start in Intelligence, she was, but she was nervous that by helping Sai she'd be rejected for the position. She didn't want to lose it but she didn't really want to let Sakura down either.

"Certainly, if you're anything like Inoichi we'll be dying to have you in Intelligence," Ibiki mused. She beamed in delight.

* * *

Sai had escaped, it wasn't easy with his being attatched to the IV still, but he had managed it. However, he needed a break from Beautiful; she was wreaking havoc on his nerves with all the oddities she ignited in him. His chest tightening, his heart racing, his thick tongue (though he was hardly charismatic like Naruto he had never been heavy on the tongue as he turned into a fool), there was the feeling in his stomach also, and the wonderful sensations he felt whenever she graced him with a touch.

He was familiar with lust, in Root he had been taught how to seduce and please men and women alike; though truthfully he preferred women.

But he was Root.

He was whatever was needed and no one at all; all at once.

But now, now he was Sai, and Sai was a member of Team 7, a brother to Haruno Sakura, a student of Hatake Kakashi and Yamata, and a friend of Uzumaki Naruto. He had an identity; though it was still being hashed out; a year was enough for him to figure out the basics, with a lot of help from Sakura who patiently endured all of his questions. There were simply things he'd never take to Naruto because Dickless was not just dickless, he was brainless in the process.

However, he had who he; as Sai; hashed out for the basics.

He was Sai. He had a deceased brother, his name was Shin. He liked painting, drawing and calligraphy. His favorite food was momen tofu, and his least favorite was mitarashi dango (Sakura was to blame for that, she had doused his in a horrid sauce and had hated them ever since). He despised Uchiha Sasuke; not because he was Root or because the Uchiha had killed Danzo (the latter of those two had been a blessing in disguise), but rather because the traitor hurt his best friend, broke her heart repeatedly and she just endured it in silence. And since Sakura's declaration of him being her brother, he looked at her as his sister, so he despised the Uchiha for hurting her. He also liked women, he had talked a great deal about his with Ugly, asking her about it, and they had both come to the conclusion he was straight. Not bi, not gay, he was straight; apparently he liked women more than men.

But then again, he had been Root and in Root he had been no one and anyone.

Now though, now he was Sai; and just because he had the basics of who he was, did not mean he was not exploring everything.

Everything but the oddity Beautiful ignited in him.

Which was why he had stealthily slipped her watch to try to find Ugly for a moment of peace. Beautiful was always humming, talking, babbling; even in her sleep! He was surprised she even had time to breathe! No, scratch that; he was curious if she even did breathe or require air to survive like any normal person.

The top floor was practically empty, he noticed the hastily patched up wall and remembered yesterday when he had heard a shinobi named Ebisu saying how terrifying Ugly had been as she punched the Raikage through the wall. He remembered the tremors of her chakra punch and had to admit it had been a little unsettling until he remembered Ugly didn't take to people trying to take, harm, or kill her traitor.

A door rattling at the end of the breezy hall caught his attention, the pinkette emerged and she gently shut it. Her hand was over her mouth as she choked on a sob like he'd seen her do all too often in her moments of weakness as she propped herself up against the door and took a few steps to the wall before she just sank to the floor and wept in silence.

Ugly never gave the heart wrenching sobs all the books said women gave, no; he had yet to see Haruno Sakura break like that. No, she cried the silent sobs and endured her pain alone.

He gave her five minutes before he decided to make himself known.

"Ugly," he called out, her head came up and he saw her hastily hide the evidence of her pain behind one of her semi-real smiles as she stood up to stand before him. He inspected her closely and his ears caught what sounded like sobs on the other side of the door and concluded she was hurting because traitor was hurting; but then again he'd need to read a book to make certain about this.

"Hey Sai," she greeted. He smiled reflexively at her semi-true, semi-hiding, and somewhat false smile. "How are you doing?"

"Sore," he admitted. But the drugs made his pain obsolete. "Did you know Beautiful cannot be quiet!?" he demanded sharper than he intended. However, Ugly laughed instead and it was one of her real laughs, he was relieve she had not taken offence to him insulting her friend.

"Yes, Sai, I know," she mused and she propped herself up on the hospital wall.

"She talks in her sleep even," he promptly stated, she smiled broadly in her amusement.

"Well, the hospital is overflowing with patients, and it makes sense to keep friends together, friends need friends when in grief and in times of healing," she explained. He nodded as he understood then.

Beautiful was Ugly's friend.

Beautiful had lost her father in the war, and her mother during Pain's assault; Ugly was trying to put him with Beautiful, so Beautiful had a purpose and a friend. Though he didn't think he was very good friend material; everyone aside from Team 7 hated him essentially. But he was trying, Sakura was just shoving him out of his comfort zone to continue to make friends. It wasn't working but he was willing to let her think it was.

"Please just tolerate it Sai, it's important to me to know you're being taken care of and while she's a patient; she's also a hell of a nurse," Sakura stated sternly.

"I believe you Ugly," he submitted. No one; aside from maybe Kakashi or Tsunade, ever won against Sakura. Not even creepy eyes; for Sakura scared him a great deal more than Yamato ever did.

"Let me get you a nurse to get you back to your room," she said softly and she motioned for someone from down the hall. He just frowned, he didn't want to leave Ugly alone with traitor, however a part of him desperately wanted to go back to Beautiful because Ugly wanted her being looked after.

"Please take Sai back to his room," Sakura asked sweetly to a nurse who appeared. He looked up at the civilian and then at Sakura as he opened his mouth to protest.

"Of course Dr. Haruno," the young woman said with a slight bow as she looped her arm with his and took him away. He protested having his person clung to as he tried to escape the grip of the civilian, he looked over to Sakura for help but saw her standing there with a bemused expression and then she sobered up, marched back to the door and disappeared. He made it to the elevator when he finally pulled himself from the civilian. They rode to his floor in silence, at the ding the doors slid open and he found himself looking into eyes the color of the sky on an early spring day glaring fiercely at him as he winced and stepped away before he was struck.

That was the same look Ugly got in her eyes before he got a huge bruise!

"Where have you been!? I've been worried sick about you!" she said as she then grabbed his person; he was startled by the electric thrill which raced up his person as she stomped off with him, he was holding his IV so it didn't get ripped from his arm. Ino was livid as she scolded him mercilessly for worrying him and then they stopped.

She spun around, threw her arms around him and he froze on the spot as the blood pounded in his ears and he stood there in shock.

"Kami I thought you'd run off with Root or something and Sakura was going to kill me!" she huffed and then pulled away from him. "I'll get our discharge papers, have Sakura sign them and take you home with me for the time being!'

"Huh?" he blinked and she left him in his room in silence.

He was thoroughly confused now and was going to need to talk to Ugly again ASAP about this confusion as he sat on the bed staring at where the blonde had walked out of the room.

* * *

 **I never though Sai was gay (aside from when he wore Guy's green jumpsuit), but there is his background at Root...**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	5. Part 1: Chapter 5

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 5**

It was two days since Uchiha Sasuke had reportedly woken up, a day since Sakura had been called before the council, and it was time; in Ino's mind, to get hers' and Sai's discharge papers signed before she was stuck here after Sakura took Sasuke and left the hospital. Which was why she was going up to the top floor today with the papers in hand and she marched straight over to the Uchiha's room.

Sakura was in there, though Ino couldn't read Sakura's mind she could feel Sakura's mind beyond the door. She couldn't sense Sasuke but she had a feeling that his years as a missing-nin had fortified his mind because like Sai's she had to really focus to even feel his mind.

But Ino was undeterred as she rapped on the door. There was a snarl.

"Knock it off Sasuke," Sakura's voice quipped but she heard the Uchiha grumbling beyond the door and then the door rattled opened. And she found herself staring at Sakura who smiled slightly. Her best friend was clearly exhausted, and as Ino peeked over the Sakura's shoulder at Sasuke she saw something she hadn't thought she'd ever see in Sasuke. She saw uncertainty in his eyes so she looked to Sakura before he started acting like a prisoner of war again.

"What's up Ino?" Sakura asked.

"Can you sign the discharge papers for Sai and I; I'll take him to the Yamanaka residence. He'll be with your parents, me, Kurenai and Mirai," Ino explained.

"Uh, no, my parents came yesterday evening, they're staying at their bakery; they're still rebuilding it but since I don't live with them anymore they have enough room there while they rebuild to live there," Sakura explained quickly as she took the papers and scribbled her signature on them after reading them over and handing them back to her.

"And you?" Ino asked softly.

"I'll be right back, Sasuke," Sakura said as she guided Ino out of the doorway.

"What are you doing Sakura? What's going on with the Uchiha?" Ino asked softly as Sakura leaned on the door and smiled slightly.

"He's my charge for the next year, four months to heal up before he starts his travels for redemption," Sakura explained softly as she leaned on the door.

"Are you alright with that Sakura?" Ino asked softly. She knew how much Sakura loved Sasuke, though she had never been the one to try to patch Sakura up, she knew, she could see it. And the worst part about Sakura's love for Sasuke; was when they were little and it should've just been a crush, it had been the real thing.

Five years old when she declared her crush on Sasuke, it was when they were older and Ino had decided she liked him that they had ripped each other apart. However, the difference between Ino and Sakura's crushes, was Ino just liked Sasuke because he was great to look at but Sakura had liked _him_ for _him_. Not just his looks.

And then she had witnessed how he ripped her apart. Sakura was much stronger than Ino could ever be, because if any man had done to her what Sasuke did to Sakura, she'd have killed the guy, called Sakura to bury the body and then dance with glee on said guy's grave. But no, not Sakura, she took the pain and turned her pain into her shield and strength, wrapped it around herself so no one else could break her. And Ino envied her.

"Ino, it's not about me or if I'm alright with it," Sakura sighed as her head fell back against the door.

"Sakura, it is about you," Ino whispered. "Are you going to be alright with him being your charge? I know you love him but do you need to do this for him?"

"Yes Ino, yes, I do need to do this. Because it's not for me, it's for him. And loving someone isn't about you, it's about them, and I'd do anything for him and anything to heal him, Ino. I'd even hand him my heart and the knife for him to slice it up if it'd help him," Sakura sighed. "I'll be alright Ino, don't worry about it. I'd be more worry about Sai."

"Why?" Ino asked.

"Because, he's really not good with children and you said Kurenai and Mirai could stay with you. I'd pay money to see Sai with Mirai," she mused with a strained smile.

"I'll take photos," she smiled in return to Sakura before she turned to leave.

"Ino, can you do me a favor?" Sakura called out.

"Yeah, anything," Ino said as she turned to look at Sakura.

"Take care of Sai, and don't hate Sasuke; please, please don't hate him," Sakura whispered.

"Billboard Brow…" Ino said sharply and then she decided to lie. "Keep your hands off my Sasuke."

"Go take care of Sai, Pig," Sakura grumbled and walked into the room then, Ino smiled slightly and then hurried to her room to change and then help get Sai back to her place. The Yamanaka compound was a far ways away from the hospital in comparison to where the Yamanaka Flower Shop had been. Sighing she walked into the elevator and closed her eyes.

She didn't like any of this, not any of this. However she was concerned about Sakura, but now, right now she was going to help Sakura's teammate because she was going to be the good friend for a moment. She was always considered a poor friend to her other friends, but she had always counted on Sakura as her best friend. And she was going to prove for a change that she was just as good of friend for Sakura as Sakura was for her.

She pushed herself up when the elevator doors dinged and walked out to the hall as she marched straight to the room to change and drag Sai off with her. Yamanaka Ino was going to prove to everyone just how good of person and friend and healer she could be!

* * *

Ino handed him some casual clothes, but with his broken, casted leg, and then there was the matter of his hand which was bandaged up thoroughly so he could hardly move his thumb; which had not been damaged in any way. But Sai was annoyed with how useless he felt fumbling with the button on his pants. Ino eventually came over and when her cool fingers ghosted his pale skin as she did up his button he felt a throbbing in his heart and another electric thrill coursing through his body as he watched her fingers. She had a golden hugh to her skin, rather like the sun, he thought it unique since he was pale as the paper he painted on.

Once he was dressed he saw Sakura and Sasuke walking from the hospital when he and Ino left. Part of him wanted to call out to Ugly and ask her his questions about Beautiful, but he didn't.

He saw something he hadn't seen since Root, it wasn't something he could even explain but rather it was something he saw. There was something about the traitor, he wasn't all here as far as Sai could see. True, he was walking with Ugly and he was here, but he was not all here. There wasn't a way to describe it as the traitor sort of floated along with Ugly holding his sleeve where his left arm had been. The only way to describe what he was seeing was this: the traitor was a man who was the very darkness of the world and he was trapped in it. Sai hoped Ugly would be able to handle this, mostly because he had seen some of his former comrades lash out and kill when they were physically in the present but trapped in their darkness.

"Beautiful, what did Morino Ibiki ask you about?" Sai asked. He knew Morino from Torture and Interrogation, Danzo had employ many of Ibiki's trade mark methods of torture to train Root to resist torture and interrogation, it was a challenging thing to survive and many Root members were known to die in that training, it was painful and it was hard, and it was lethal. So he was most curious as to what Morino Ibiki had asked of Beautiful.

"Oh, um… I'm thinking of becoming his apprentice…" she replied uncertainly.

"Really?" he asked, now he was genuinely intrigued. Beautiful would be a terrifying interrogator, especially with her deceivingly sunny disposition.

"Yes, but… I'm not too sure I should…" she admitted.

"Why not? You would make a terrifying interrogator," he admitted. He was thinking of a beautiful woman he had met when he had been fifteen; he had been sent to seduce her, which he had, and he had stolen the information as ordered. But she had caught him; only after he sent the information to Root; and then proceeded to torture him until he thought he was going to die. He had escaped though; only after he had killed the woman though.

"You really think so?" she stammered out.

"Yes, psychological torture is just as important as the actual pain inflicted upon the target, and your stunningly beautiful," as he had been told repeatedly by Kiba who drooled after Ino and the other villagers. "It would make you the most dangerous interrogator," he admitted.

"Wow Sai, you know; I think that might be the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," she admitted hesitantly.

"It's not a nice thing," he pointed out. Sai had simply pointed out a fact, Ino shook her head and gave a nervous laugh, her cheeks were a little red which did strange things to his heart again.

"You're not that bad Sai, no one's ever said they'd think I would be good at anything," Ino informed him which had him blinking as he tilted his head in thought.

"I guess terrifying would be good for an interrogator," he admitted.

"Thanks Sai," she smiled; his chest tightened again.

"There is no thanks needed though, I am simply stating a thought," he pointed out. He had not done anything to warrant her thanks, at least he didn't think he had as they walked together.

"No, but you believe that I could be good at this, and that means a lot Sai," Ino said firmly as they continued to walk the rough new road of the rebuilding village. Sai decided another thing about himself now, he hated crutches.

"I do not understand," he informed her. Ino sighed.

"Well, to put it simply, I am the weak link in Ino-Shika-Chō. I also happen to be a girl, my father spoiled me since I was born, and I'm not particularly great at anything but looking pretty. I always rely on Shikamaru and Chōji to save me, and when I'm one missions with other teams I'm always tossed to the sidelines and told to let everyone else handle it. I'm just… I'm not really a fantastic kunoichi like Sakura or Tenten or Hinata," she admitted nervously. He stopped hobbling along and stared at her dumbfounded.

This girl, a woman who every man drooled after (he had eyes and though he didn't always know beauty when he saw it, he knew it when others saw because of all the people watching he did), the very woman who Ugly always strove to be better than, did not think herself enough. Sai thought that was pathetic. He had heard of all about this from Ugly, and Ugly thought Beautiful here to be one of the best kunoichi. Ever.

"Nonsense, everyone has their own strengths and their own weaknesses; it's just how to apply them." He stated a fact from is days training in Root when his jutsus were being taught to him.

"Wow Sai, I don't think anyone's ever had that much faith in me…" she said with a weak smile.

"I do not have faith in you; I'm just stating facts," he said simply. Her jaw dropped at him, and he again worried about being slugged because that was an almost identical look that Ugly gave him before he was punched into the ground. "Please don't hit me!"

"Now I get why you're so frustrating!" Ino snarled as she stomped off ahead of him. He just tried to keep up and figure out what he had said wrong; again.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	6. Part 1: Chapter 6

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 6**

Ino found that living with Sai meant one thing, nothing about what she did in the ancient Yamanaka home was disturbed. In fact, if she hadn't happened to know the former Root member was residing in her home she'd have thought him to not be here. However he was here, and she was trying to keep him engaged here. All she knew was he disliked the crutches. But Sakura had said that cheating on all his healing would make his body lazy, and though Ino had helped heal the worst of it, she understood why Sakura wouldn't heal all of her friend.

Besides, in a few more weeks he'd be out of the cast and he'd be free. Which was something she knew he was looking forward too even if he didn't express it. She knew he was itching to get out of the cast. He was also strangely vacant in whatever room Kurenai and Mirai were in. Which was leading her to believe Sakura hadn't over exaggerated Sai's inability to be around children. He wasn't inept, but it was clear her friend's teammate didn't know how to be around children.

However, today was not a day she had the patience for Sai's antics, and it was not a day she wanted to be alone as she fixed her dress and held her sandals in her fingers as she quietly padded through her ancient family home looking for Sai. Kurenai was out with Mirai, and the Harunos were rebuilding their bakery; she'd get to taking over the reconstruction of her family's flower shop in a bit, she still owned the land because of her mother's will, and her father would want it rebuilt. Also, she wanted it back. She didn't have anything of theirs anymore and she wanted something back.

She found Sai on the porch just sitting there staring at the rain which seemed to be an on again off again thing at this moment. But she didn't care.

"Hey Sai," she announced herself as she walked over to sit beside him.

"Hello Beautiful," he greeted. His nickname of her was something which still had her blushing and something she hadn't informed him as rude because they hardly knew one another. It wasn't really polite to nickname people you hardly knew, however, she really liked the nickname because not only did it annoy Sakura, it was sweet in her mind.

"Sai, would you mind coming with me," she asked softly. She really did not want to be alone, she didn't want to go to the memorial for her father and a man she had considered to be her uncle alone, she really didn't want Shikamaru, Chōji or Chōza see her break when they were just as broken up as she over the loss. She did not want to appear as weak as she was feeling.

"Not at all, Beautiful; where are we going?" he asked, she stood up and helped him up with some difficulty. He wasn't too much larger than herself, in height that is, but he was

"My father and uncle's memorial," she answered once he was up on is feet he was on his crutches and followed her into the house.

"That's today?" he asked her.

"Yes, do you mind?" she asked as he started towards his room.

"Not at all," he said with his fake smile which she was coming to realize was because he didn't know how to be completely real. She was starting to understand what Sakura meant by he wasn't completely 'real', though the real him was still being figured out she knew when he was uncertain of what he needed and should be doing in social situations.

A half an hour later she was walking with Sai towards the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi family graveyard. Ino-Shika-Chō was a group of more than friends, more than family; their bond transcended even that which was considered normal because of the Yamanka Family's Secret Jutsu. Her family's jutsu was what made Ino-Shika-Chō so much more than what normal bonds could describe.

She looked up as she walked into the graveyard of all their ancestors and all of those of Ino-Shika-Chō who had come before them.

"Hello Ino," she looked up at the soft voice which greeted her.

"I am so sorry, Yoshino," she whispered as she rushed to the woman who was her aunt in every way but blood and enveloped her in a tight hug. The older woman trembled in her arms but Ino held on tightly to the woman who wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm sorry for you as well," Yoshino whispered in her ear. Ino bit her lip to keep from sobbing then.

"This is how dad would've wanted it, he wasn't complete without mom," she mumbled as she pulled away from the older woman and stepped back to Sai's side. Sai said nothing to her, but that was alright as she slipped her arm in his and took his crutch to let him lean on her because she wanted human contact. She wanted to hide from the world, she did, but she didn't as she looked up to see Shikamaru appear with Temari, and Chōji was with his mother and father. Ino felt a drop of rain on her head and she tightened her grip on Sai as she leaned on him and slowly they made their way into the graveyard for the memorial ceremony held by the survivors of the Nara and Akimich clans, her clan though heavily decimated by the Fourth Great Shinobi War also particiapated and it hit her then…

There was only one Yamanaka of the head family left.

Was this how Uchiha Sasuke felt about being the last? Like she was the last one who'd ever live in her clan and hold the Yamanaka name because she did not believe she'd ever find love and have a family.

"Beautiful?" Sai asked about half way through the ceremony when she hid her face in his shoulder for a moment to not break.

"Just give me a minute," she whispered.

* * *

"Alright," he replied as he held himself perfectly still with her leaning on him.

Sai didn't know what to do, but Ugly had once done this and ordered him to just endure it. Which was what he was doing, which was why he didn't understand why his heart was slamming loudly in his chest, the blood was roaring through his body and electricity from where Ino was touching him was searing his nerves. He didn't understand his desire to hold her; but to what extent. Sai was not one who had much to do with people, and especially not women or children.

However, he remained still as Ino hid her face in his shoulder and then she finally pulled away, she didn't let him go as she stood tall and proud again and he watched what was clearly an important and secret family ritual for the Yamanak, Nara and Akimichi families.

Shikamaru was presented something, Sai didn't see what because just then Ino's breath hitched and he turned to see her trembling.

"And to Yamanaka Ino, the sixteenth head of the Yamanaka clan, we thank your father for his leadership, and we look to you now," a blonde man with the same pupiless blue eyes said as he presented Ino a flower. She hesitantly took it from the man then.

"I will honor and uphold the Yamanka Clan and all our secrets," she promised and Sai felt like an outsider right then as he watched the blonde bow to Beautiful as he pulled away.

"I swear to lead us with courage, honor and strength, I promise to aid my clansmen and protect my village at any cost, even if the cost is my life," she and Shikamaru said aloud together and the clans bowed slightly before the ceremony was concluded. The clansmen started leaving and eventually, after an unknown amount of time in the rain he found himself and Ino to be the only two here.

"Beautiful? What flower is that?" he asked her, she hadn't stopped staring at it since she had made that vow before everyone and she hadn't stopped twirling it in her fingers.

"A Thunberg's bushclover," she answered. "My clan's crest." She further explained.

"Beautiful, we should really get out of the rain," he said. He'd have made an ink umbrella but he couldn't with his hand being bond up and broken so badly that there were times he was in near tears if it wasn't for the fact that he was on very strong pain medication.

"Yeah," she agreed and they reluctantly left the graveyard. She held onto him and didn't return his crutch and he found himself leaning heavily on her delicate frame. "Thank you Sai."

"For what?" he asked in confusion, he hadn't done anything to warrant a thank you, and he was a bit baffled that she was thanking him when he had unintentionally insulted her earlier this week.

"For coming," she finally said as she walked with him towards the Yamanaka compound.

"Oh," he replied. He was still confused and suddenly her head was resting on his shoulder.

"I know you don't understand it, and we're not really friends aside from having Sakura in common, but thank you Sai. It means a lot to me that you didn't make me go alone," she explained when they walked up the stairs to the Yamanaka main house where they were currently residing.

"Of course," he said, because in all the books he had read that would be the polite and socially acceptable. She didn't respond to his reply though. Instead of walking into the house she walked the porch and sat down in her still wet garments, he hopped after her on his crutch and came up behind her. If Beautiful caught a cold because of her wet garments then Ugly would surely punch him into the center of the earth just for kicks for letting her best friend getting ill.

"Beautiful, you should go put on dry clothes. Ugly will be most upset if you catch a cold and die," he explained. She smirked a bit as she looked over her shoulder to him then. "And may I please have my crutch back, it is most awkward to lean on one."

"Sure Sai, sure, here's the crutch and while I change, you change too," she ordered. "I'll make us something to eat," she said as she walked away from him. He said nothing but was relieved to have both his crutches again as he then hurried back to his quarters and peeled the wet garb off his body. He pulled on loose clothes and found he still couldn't do up his pants' button with one hand; most frustratingly, and he hopped out of his room in search of Ino.

He found her, her waist length blonde hair was down and she was toweling it dry. His heart did something funny again as he watched her and his breath hitched at the sight of her; she was only in her bra and panties as she toweled her hair dry. She looked up, he felt his face heating as he tried not to topple over while holding his pants up and he was trying to look away from her.

"SAI!" she screamed as she slammed her arms over her breasts and turned away from him.

"Uh… sorry," he stammered out as he finally ripped his eyes away from the sight of her as she covered herself up with the towel then.

"No, Forehead said this would happen," Ino huffed out indignantly.

"Ugly normally punches me for this," he informed promptly, still not looking at her because he did not wish to be punched right now. He was still hurting from everything that was broken in his body which was still slowly mending.

"Well, I'm tempted too, but Sakura warned me," she grumbled. "Lemme guess, you can't get your pants' button," she guessed and he snuck a glance at her as he looked up at the ceiling again then.

"Yes," he answered.

"Alright, but knock next time!" she ordered. He didn't look at her but he felt her fingers do up his pants for him, again her warm touch ghosted his cold skin and then she was gone. "Go, I'll be out soon to make something to eat," she ordered as he felt her pull away from him.

"Thank you Beautiful," he said and was quick in his retreat before his body started acting any weirder than it already was.

* * *

 **Just a head's up, all of the Until the Day I... Stories are slow to start. Sorry, it just is, but I hope you'll like them as they go.**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	7. Part 1: Chapter 7

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 7**

There was a solace in her life with having Sai here in her ancient family home. Now that she was head of the family it was where she'd live, until the flower shop was rebuilt because she didn't think she could live here. Ino missed the bustling life of the village around her.

It had been two weeks since she had been named as head of the Yamanaka Family, and since the memorial and she found herself to be exhausted emotionally from dealing with all this.

Kurenai had taken Mirai back home; her apartment building had been rebuilt and cleared for former tenants to move back in. Which in turn had made her family's ancestral home feel… empty. It was just nice to know Sai was here as she walked through her home looking for him. She knew he was having difficulty accepting his hand since it was still casted and he didn't know if it was healed. Sakura had tried to reassure him but Ino knew there was no way to cheer him up though.

Ino was trying not to let him fall into despair but it was difficult to keep him perked up when he seemed so… pragmatic. And slightly pessimistic; which was irritating her because Ino was one of those people who tried to look for the bright side in situations. It wasn't working lately, but it was something she was still actively trying to do, despite looking over the clan expenses, the list of her kinsmen lost in the war, and having the Yamanaka elders beating on her door every other day with a new problem or something which would require her immediate attention.

Which was why she looking for Sai now.

Being with Sai… it was like having a moment where everything was still, where everything was at peace, and nothing else existed but her and his calming presence. She couldn't describe what about him made her calm, she couldn't because she had sat up some nights examining everything about him and trying to decipher just what about him; him, the most socially awkward man she had ever met; which calmed her and also turned her; her of all the women in the world; into a bumbling idiot.

And honestly; aside from his nice looks; she had nothing.

But Sai was the person she was seeking out all the same as she drifted through the Yamanaka home seeking him out. He was like a ghost, and if she hadn't been a sensory type she was certain she'd have missed him, but she found him; in her ancestral family home's over run, unruly garden just laying beneath the sun staring up at the tree he was laying beneath.

"Hello Sai," she greeted as she walked over to him, her bare feet tickled by the grass she walked upon when she sat beside him.

He opened an inky black eye at her and then let it drift shut as he smiled slightly at her which had her relaxing.

"Beautiful," he acknowledged.

"Funny, I never lived here, and yet, it feels kind of like it could be home," she said as she stared up at the tree. She didn't want to give up living in town; she was a people person at heart, just like her father had been, and she loved the life of being in the center of the village. But also, she liked this place, it felt like it was her roots, where she belonged even. But she hated how quiet the place was when she was alone, this was a home for many children and laughter, and life. Sadly, though, it appeared to be empty because Yamanaka were people persons, and not traditional in the normal sense.

"It is a peaceful place," Sai said and she was startled when his inky eyes flew open and he looked at her with that piercing gaze of his; like he knew all of her secrets and weaknesses and would exploit them or guard them. Which she wasn't entirely certain, but that's how it looked to her as she stared back at him.

"My family hasn't lived her for the past few generations, we keep it because it's the clan's roots, but we haven't lived here for nearly a century," she said and she decided to stretch out beside him as she stared at the tree. "What about you Sai? Do you have roots?"

"No," he answered and he looked back up to the tree leaves.

"Really?" she inquired, wishing desperately to know more about the man who was here with her right now. Sai was an enigma to her, he was perhaps closest to Sakura; even Naruto didn't know that much about Sai; she had prodded his mind subtly.

"In Root I was anyone and no one," he said softly then and she propped herself up then.

"I thought that was a rumor," she informed him. He shook his head.

"No. Sai is the longest I've ever been," he said and his eyes looked to her as if expecting something from that.

"Well, then, if you're Sai now, then tell me about yourself Sai," Ino prompted eagerly. Anything to distract her from her troubles and worries. Anything to give her a hint as to who he was, she knew who he was though; the basics of who he was at least, but she desperately wanted to know about him.

"There is nothing to tell," Sai said bluntly.

"There's always a story to someone, Sai, you just need to tell it, and I want to know you." she persisted.

"Why?" he asked blandly as he gave her a confused yet indifferent look.

"Well…" she thought about this carefully as she pursed her lips together and then slid him a thoughtful look. "You are Billboard Brow's teammate, and Forehead obviously loves you and she's my best friend and I would like to be your friend as well."

"Friends?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I mean we're stuck together until you're all better, and I'd rather us at least be friends rather than enemies for the next few months. Also, Forehead will break me into little itty bitty pieces if we fight the entire time," she pointed out. That seemed to be his agreement point.

* * *

"Alright, Beautiful, comrades?" he asked her as he slowly and carefully pulled himself up into sitting position. He was aching but he wouldn't let it show as he sat up to look into her eyes which were the same color as the sun.

"No, Sai, comrades are not friends, we're going to be friends," Ino stated flatly which had him tiliting his head.

"Alright, Dickless and Ugly are my only friends, I will be happy to have you as a friend!" he smiled then, thinking that was the polite answer according to the books he had read. He'd have to ask Ugly about it later.

"Great!" she wrapped her arms around him as she smiled broadly. He just stiffened, no one aside from Ugly hugged him, and even then he didn't really know what to do. She pulled away, and his heart was racing as if he had run to the village from Suna again, and he was thinking of asking Ugly about it. He didn't know how much more confusion his body gave him he could take!

"Alright, I'm Yamanaka Ino, I have tons of clansmen, no siblings, I don't currently have a crush or a date, my best friend in the entire world is Haruno Sakura, Shikamaru and Chōji are like my brothers, but we're Ino-Shika-Chō so we're always really close. I love shopping. My favorite food are cherry tomatoes, and pudding; I despise sashimi. And I love flowers. Your turn," she prompted.

"I'm Sai," he said.

"Ugh!" her head fell and he smiled a real smile in amusement; he kind of liked purposely exasperating Ino, her reactions were far less painful than Ugly's. Also, Ugly had an uncanny ability of seeing through him whenever he was playing dumb. Like now, but Ugly wasn't here to punch him and tell him not to be an ass, so he was going to enjoy toying with Beautiful.

"Tell me about yourself Sai," she ordered.

"I had a brother, Shin; he's dead. I like drawing and calligraphy." Though how much longer until he could or couldn't draw he didn't know, and it pained him to think about his never being able to hold a brush again. "I like momen tofu, I hate mitarashi dango. I dislike the traitor, he hurts Ugly. Naruto is my friend, and Ugly said I'm her brother so I guess that would make her my sister. Also, I'm straight," he said.

She was giggling hysterically at the last one for some reason, but she had been the one to say she had no crushes, and Ugly had thoroughly explained to him just what exactly a girl meant by crush. She had not explained what a date was, claiming she had never been on one and punched Naruto when he said he took her for ramen all the time.

"You don't need to tell people your straight," she giggled then.

"Oh?" he tilted his head in confusion.

"Sexuality is personal, you don't always need to advertise it, but that said, it's good you at least know you are attracted to women. Sakura said you didn't always know who you were because you were trying to figure yourself out," Ino said.

"Ugly is not wrong, but I like women," he said then.

"Any particular kind of woman?" she asked slyly then and he just shook his head. He was not one to 'date' just yet. It was not for lack of interest, but if he needed a woman he knew where to go to have one for a night of meaningless sex. When he needed to be, he could be good at seduction, but he never told Ugly that or Dickless for that matter. One because Ugly would punch him to Suna and back, she did not believe in just sex for whatever reason. And two, because Dickless would want him to prove it, and he did not want that. Besides, he was not entirely certain Dickless wasn't gay… and he did not want to find out if that was the case.

"Hm, we'll figure that one out later," she said with a delicate shrug but he felt like she wasn't telling him something.

"That's alright," he said then, besides, he was having enough difficulties with his body and Ino than he ever wanted her to know. the last thing he needed was her trying to help him figure out what kind of woman he was attracted to.

Sunshine and blue popped to mind but he ignored it because he did not understand what his own mind was thinking at this moment.

He was having a serious talk with Ugly when he had a moment and she was not with the traitor.

"What? Don't you want to figure it out!?" Ino demanded as she planted her hands on her sitting hips.

"It's alright Beautiful, I will figure it out on my own," he assured her. Ino frowned but sighed then as she dismissed this very uncomfortable topic and continued on.

He found she had a million questions for him; some of them he did not have answers to because he did not know he needed to know his favorite color, or his favorite book, or song, he had never really thought about it.

But now, he found himself staring at Beautiful as she slept in the grass, her platinum blonde hair was fanned out against the green grass and he felt a longing in his heart and a desire in his fingers. He wanted to paint her, paint her like this, unguarded and innocent, beautiful, and spring, but he couldn't. He might never be able to paint her like this so he found himself just staring at her as she slept. The clouds rolled in and he gently prodded her shoulder when the first rain drop hit his head.

"What is it Sai?" she yawned as she stretched her arms above her head.

"It's raining now, Beautiful," he informed her. a drop of water decided to land on her center brow then and she frowned.

"So it is indeed. Come on inside, Sai, I think I have tofu, I can make us that for dinner or would you prefer something else?" she asked as she helped him unsteadily to his feet.

"That is acceptable," he assured her. she chuckled a bit, and he again wondered what he had said as her laugh made his stomach feel weird. He was having a serious talk with Ugly after this! His body was acting too weird even for him!

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	8. Part 1: Chapter 8

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 8**

Sai was contemplating the best way to cut off his cast to get to the itch that was starting to drive him to insanity on the back of his calf. He had a chopstick, and Ino was not here to yell at him and threaten him with a visit from Ugly. Which was about the last thing Ugly needed to do right now because he knew Ugly had her hands full with the traitor and had talked to him about what was she was doing with the traitor and had requested; from him; the time to focus on helping the traitor. Once the traitor was healed up and on his way then he could pester her again, but for now, he was respecting Ugly's wish and staying away.

Still, it was beginning to drive him bat shit crazy that there was this in the center back of his casted leg which was beginning to irritate him.

Which was why he was currently shoving a chopstick down his cast to try to relieve this itch; with no success.

"Sai!" Ino shouted as she appeared with a fierce glare in his direction which had him blinking as he stared at the woman and her hands were on her hips as her eyes narrowed on him.

"Uh…" he looked at his leg where he was vainly trying to get the itch, and then back up to Beautiful who looked ready to attack him.

"Stop Itching It!" she shouted as she stalked toward him. There was a knock on the door as she tried to take the chopstick from him. He was fast to maneuver out of her way as he hopped off the chair and slipped past her.

"Coming!" Ino shouted. "Hand it over," she ordered as she backed him around the dining table. "Stop it Sai!" she came at him as he tried to get the itch relieved before she attacked him. He hopped out of her grasp again as he tried to get the itch relieved.

"Just, go over there!" she snapped and he fell back into a chair suddenly which had him scowling a bit. There was another knock on the door. "No Sai!" she shouted as she surged across the table for him then. He turned in the chair which had her crashing into the ground rather than him.

"Just a minute!" she shouted at the next angry knock of the door.

"INO!" a man's voice shouted which stopped both him and Ino from their little evasion exercise.

"Oh," she scowled at him as she got to her feet. "Come on in Shikamaru, Sai stop it!" she snapped as he itched at the spot.

"Sai I swear if you don't stop trying to itch it, I will possess your body!" she snapped.

"It's itchy," he snapped back as her friends walked in then. She snatched up the chopstick then out of his hand. Damn it!

"Hey, what's up?" she was being sweet, and her back was turned which had him reaching across the table for the other one. She turned around though and scowled at him which had him handing the stick over in defeat. Damn women. Between Beautiful and Ugly he was never going to heal.

* * *

Ino was just relieved to have both the chopsticks from him before he could ruin his cast. It made her life easier if he did not ruin his cast which should be coming off in the next few days. She'd talk to Tsunade about it and arrange for a time for it to happen. Everyone was always busy at the hospital still, and Sakura was on leave now to take care of Sasuke. The only reason Ino hadn't been called in was because she was head of the Yamanaka Clan now, and Sai was in her care; which was why she was off the hook and not being called in to be a medic.

"We need to talk," Shikamaru's hard tone was her hint that he was in a bad mood.

"Oh, alright," she shrugged. "Um… about what?"

"About Intelligence and him," Shikamaru spat out him then as if it were a foul thing he'd been forced to eat. She looked at Sai then over her shoulder and he wasn't reacting at all about it.

"Hello," Sai smiled then, and she knew he was ignoring Chōji and Shikamaru. But that fake smile was her hint to leave with them.

"Alright," she said and then scowled at him. "Itch it and I will possess you and pour itching powder in that cast, understood?" she demanded.

"Yes Beautiful," was the uneasy response she received as she stood up and stalked away.

"Good, leave it alone; and if the itching powder doesn't work I'll tell Forehead and she'll just beat you up," Ino said sweetly and then sauntered out of the room completely with Chōji and Shikamaru following her through the ancient home to the garden. She was enjoying Sai's company. Once they were in the garden she turned to face her boys then with a smile; or trying to smile, because she was not going to be week anymore.

"What about Intelligence do you want to talk about, Shikamaru?" she asked then.

"You can't join Intelligence Ino," his hard, matter-of-fact tone was like a sucker punch to her gut as her heart twisted up in her chest and the blood stopped in her body as she stared at him with wide eyes.

Chōji stopped eating then.

"Oh," she said softly. "And what about you Chōji? Do you think I shouldn't join Intelligence either?" she asked icily as she felt ice fill her and bile was tasted on her tongue.

"I think Shikamaru has your well being in mind, Ino, and joining Intelligence as Ibiki's apprentice is not a good idea." His flat tone was another jab to her heart as she looked down and fisted her hand.

"Give me five reasons; five," she ordered sharply. "Five unselfish reasons why I shouldn't do this, why I can't go be useful somewhere other than Ino-Shika-Chō? Give Me Five Reasons!"

* * *

Sai had been quick to get to Beautiful once he had heard shouting from her and found her standing there shouting at those two teammates of hers as she cried and then she shoved her way through them. Something compelled him to touch her as she darted by, she slid him a teary look when he had touched her but she didn't stop as she disappeared into her home.

"Ino!" Shikamaru shouted as he tried to go after her when Sai stopped him.

"Leave, now," Sai ordered.

"And you," Shikamaru snarled out.

" _ **Me what?**_ I did not just make my friend cry, leave now," Sai ordered in a hard tone which had Shikamaru giving him a double take, as was Chōji. "If she wishes to speak with you again she will contact you, until then; leave."

He left them behind as he moved on through the house on his crutches and he reached her room. The sobs he heard had him sliding the door open then and looking down to where she was hugging herself as she cried. With a huff he had his crutches set aside as he remembered something Ugly had told him and something he had read about crying women had him acting as he sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her.

Ino didn't dare to look at him but she leaned into him as she cried. He said nothing; not because he didn't want to, but because he had no idea what he'd say to a girl in Ino's situation, he would have to ask Ugly about this later. Or he could ask Naruto… the thought of asking Dickless though had him frowning as he let his body just act on it's own accord and rub her back.

"Why is it that now one ever has any faith in me?" she whimpered out finally. She wasn't looking at him which was why he figured smiling to her would do no good.

"What does faith have to do with doing something?" he asked her firmly.

"Wha?" she was rubbing her red eyes as she looked at him through wet lashes now.

"If you want to do something, then you should do it. At least, this is what Ugly is always telling me," he admitted. "The only way to find out who you are is to live your life and try everything," he nodded firmly. Again, he was quoting Ugly now.

"Thank you Sai," she mumbled and her head rested on his shoulder, which had him stiffening where he sat. "Mind if I just stay here for a minute?"

"No," he answered in an unsteady voice as his hand continued to rub her back on it's own accord. They both just sat there in silence, and he tried to keep his heart steady but the sensations jolting through his body and dancing in his abdomen with her resting against him had him thinking he'd need a serious talk to Ugly about what oddities were going on, and to talk about all the thoughts running through his head at the moment. Ugly was the best one to straighten these things out though, and she never beat around the bush, so to speak.

* * *

For as awkward as he made her, and for as awkward as he was, this just felt natural as she relaxed against him.

She, Shikamaru and Chōji rarely had all out wars in their fights, she had always been able to forgive them after their fights, but this time…

She didn't know if she could forgive the things they had yelled at one another. They had hit every weak point in her, they had made their words hit their marks to cripple her, and she had done the same as she had been telepathically pulling things from their mind and using it against them too. And the three of them had hurt each other to their extremes, spatting out things they would never have said if they all weren't hurting; and she knew this. She knew they didn't mean half of what they were shouting in anger and pain, but there were some things said which had crippled her and wounded her, and then there were the things shouted in anger and in the heat of the moment which she knew were dark secrets in the recesses of their minds. However, a snide thought from Shikamaru about Sai and her had broken her will which had had her running off in tears. She had promptly done something she tried never to do, she shut them out of her mind, shut off their normal connections and wanted to hide.

But it was Sai who had come to her when she was crying and it was why she was leaning on him now and seeking a comfort she didn't think he knew how to give to her.

Her breath hitched as she rested against him and closed her eyes.

"Forehead's right, you know," she murmured.

"Of course, she usually is," he said confidently and she weakly gave a hiccup laugh as she sat up from him and rubbed her teary eyes. "Do you really think I'd be good at Intelligence?" she asked.

"You'd be terrifying," was his answer as Sai clumsily got to his feet and then left her on his crutches.

Ino sighed and looked at her lap before she carefully got to her feet and walked over to her family photo of her, her father, and her mother. Reaching out she touched her father's face, as she stood there staring at the photo.

"I'm going to prove them wrong," she said softly. "Everyone," she whispered and then she walked away from her room to the garden and she stared at it as she then walked into her family's shed and grabbed the tools she'd need to start gardening to settle her nerves after the fight she had had with her best friends.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	9. Part 1: Chapter 9

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 9**

Ino was still feeling like shit that evening when she was serving dinner for herself and Sai. Sai was reading his book in silence; it was something Sakura had said she'd want for him because he liked reading about people to try to understand them. She sighed again, she still had a roaring headache from the battle she had had with Shikamaru and Chōji and shutting off their connection. Alone, that was how she was feeling as she dragged her fingers through her hair and tried not to dwell on her severed connections.

There was a knock on the door which had her attention as she looked at Sai who looked expectantly at her. Uneasy, thinking it to be Chōji or Shikamaru as she reluctantly walked over to the door and slid it open and found herself staring at a horribly scarred man. A smile was on his lips as she slowly relaxed and smiled slightly in return as she slid the door open.

"Evening princess," Ibiki smiled.

"Hello Ibiki, Sai and I were just about to have dinner, come in," she offered as she stepped aside and opened the door for the huge man to walk in then. "Want to have some?"

"Thanks princess, evening Sai," Ibiki greeted her house guest then.

"Ibiki," Sai acknowledged as Ibiki took a seat at her table across from Sai then.

"Have you thought about the offer, princess?" Ibiki asked her as she resumed her cooking and she turned off her stove then as she pulled the crockery off the stove.

"Yes, and I want to do it," she admitted, however there was still this pain in her heart from everything Shikamaru and Chōji had shouted at her this afternoon and how her own confidence in herself had been shattered because of their words which had been kunai in her heart.

"But what?" Ibiki asked as if he knew there was something holding her back and she sighed as she served dinner to the men at her table then.

"But, why would you want me for an interrogator? I understand that my father had asked this of you, but why me? What do you gain by having me, the Yamanaka Princess; in your division?" she asked, Shikamaru's and Chōji's voices ringing in her head as they snapped at her everything they could think to say to her.

"If you think I am asking the Yamanaka Princess to be a mascot in my division, then I have news for you, girl; you are dead wrong. I am asking the young lady who connected the entire frontlines minds; without a Mind Reading Amplification Machine; to be my apprentice. I'd never ask some spoiled princess incapable of her family's secret jutsu to be my apprentice, I wouldn't. Also, if you're half the Yamanaka I think you to be then there will be nothing for me to worry about, I will have an excellent apprentice," Ibiki said firmly which had her blinking as she sat down at the table.

"I told you so, Beautiful," Sai said flatly as he served up his own plate of momen tofu she had made for them tonight.

"I will sick Forehead on you," she threatened which had him smiling cheekily.

"Ugly likes me," he pointed out and her eyes narrowed.

"I'm her best friend," she countered.

"I'm her brother," he retorted and she scowled at her plate as she ate quietly.

"I hate you," she mumbled.

"I know," he replied cheerily and Ibiki just sighed as he ate his own meal with them.

"What's your answer, princess?" Ibiki asked her as they ate.

"Are you serious?" she whispered. "I'm not going to be the useless mascot of Intelligence who is paraded around before the prisoners about to be interrogated and then put away in a different room while you work them over?"

"You'd be a legitimate, useful, and used person of Intelligence and if any of my men were to balk about it they'd find out just how sadistic I can be or you could be. You have a very valuable gift princess, your father used his for his whole career to pry information out of the enemies of out village and saved more lives than not.

"Aside from myself he was probably the most effective person in our division for discovering information from our enemies. And he had such a finess with your family's secret jutsu that it was almost an art, I believe firmly that you are truly half his and you will know how to unlock the enemies' minds.

"You can save a lot of lives by working in Intelligence. But I'm not going to lie to you Princess, this will not be pretty or easy, or pleasant. You will see things, and learn things from our enemies which will give you nightmares for as long as you live, but the lives you will save will be eternally grateful to you for delving into the minds of our enemies. I believe you are strong enough to do this," Ibiki stated and she looked at her plate and sighed.

"Then, if I can actually be of use, then yes, yes I'd like to work in Intelligence as your apprentice," Ino replied as she sat there eating and she quietly assessed the man at her table. Sai hadn't uttered a single word the entire time during this conversation and she was slightly grateful to him for not saying anything to her that was pro or negative about her being in Intelligence.

"Good, now princess, after your Root friend here is healed up and has spoken with Kakashi about what his assignment will be, you will come to work for me," Ibiki said darkly and she smile slightly and ate her dinner in silence then. She didn't care what Shikamaru or Chōji said anymore, she was going to do this and prove to everyone that she was great at something! Ino might not have been the best medic, or the strongest member of her team, but by Kami she was going to prove herself to be good at something; and even if it was torture she was doing this.

* * *

Sai waited until Ibiki was gone and then he decided he'd speak to his newest friend about what she'd be doing in Intelligence because he knew Ibiki wouldn't tell her everything that she'd be expected to do and he didn't mind that as he stared at her back as she saw Ibiki off. He just didn't want his newest friend to be disillusioned about what she'd be asked to do, she'd have to learn how to be heartless and merciless, she'd have to learn to break into a mind and rip it apart for information. He just wanted her to know this because he didn't want her to be disillusioned.

He knew she was still hurting from her fight with her two friends this afternoon but he also knew she needed to do this on her own. There was a point where everyone took their own path and he understood that feeling. He knew it very well, because it was through taking his own path that he had gotten friends like Yamato, Dickless, and Kakashi, and he had gotten another family like Sakura. it was because he had diverted from the path of Root that he had even gotten here.

But he wanted Ino to know this because she was going to be facing difficult times ahead of her and she would be seeing the worst of people. He just wanted her to know.

"That was a nice dinner," Beautiful said as she gathered up the plates and he watched her figure move around the kitchen.

"It was, you are a far better cook than Ugly," Sai assured her. Ugly could not cook to save her life! However, it was the unspoken rule of Team 7 to never mention this to Sakura's face; else she'd just make you a crater.

"Well, Sakura's never been much of a cook; even her family won't let her work in their bakery," Beautiful giggled a bit as if this was amusing. "She's not a bad cook, but she's… an experimenter. It's probably for the best she's a doctor rather than a chef," Ino grinned. He smiled in return because he completely agreed with her on that. it was for the best that Ugly was not a person living off of cooking; she'd starve to death or kill half the civilian population with her cooking.

"Beautiful, being in Intelligence will not be easy," he said indifferently and she spun around on him with a trembling stance.

"Please don't tell me you don't think I can do this either," she pleaded and he looked her over with a critical eye as she trembled where she stood and he shook his head.

"I do not not believe you can or cannot do this, it is for you to decide, I just wanted you to know it will not be easy. In Root we were trained to resist torture, it was painful and not easy," Sai explained carefully and her blue eyes widened as she walked over to her chair and flopped into it.

"Are you saying…" she trailed off as she stared at her lap and he sighed; he hated having to try to figure out how to speak to her, mostly because with Ugly he could be blunt as he needed to be and she'd understand; maybe punch him, but she'd understand what he was trying to say. With Beautiful he had learned early on he could not be blunt because she did not always know what he meant by what he said; even when he said it bluntly. He was learning; and stumbling, to try to figure out how to be delicate about what he had to say to her.

"I think you should be prepared for anything," he said. "This will not be an easy job, that is all I wanted to say; I think," he informed her uncertainly ans she sighed as she gave him a weak smile then.

"Sai, thank you," she said it so softly he almost missed it.

"For what? I have done nothing Beautiful," he was thoroughly confused by her and whenever she thanked him and had his heart spazing out. He was having a serious talk about all this with Ugly when she was done patching the Uchiha up! A very serious talk because he did not know how much more weirdness he could take from his body whenever he was with Ino. She was just too confusing to him and he felt like he was completely and utterly lost where she was concerned. He had never had these problems around other people in this village, but Beautiful always had him feeling more and more like a fool than he already was.

"Sai…" she sighed in exasperation.

"I do not understand why you keep thanking me," he explained and she smiled a smile he attributed to Ugly when she knew something he didn't know as she looked at him slyly.

"You'll have to figure that one out on your own," she said as she stood up. "I'm going to bed, Sai, night," she said and she left the room.

He just sat there feeling baffled and out of the loop on something with Beautiful and he just did just didn't know what it was as he sat there trying to figure it out.

Finally he gave up as he grabbed his crutches and clumsily made his way to his room and flopped onto the futon as he stared at his bandaged up hand. The sooner that he was healed, and the sooner he was back to work for Kakashi, the sooner he'd feel… normal again. He didn't know entirely what his normal was, but he didn't think it was this stumbling fool he felt like when he was around Ino. Honestly, he already knew he was socially graceless person, however Beautiful always made him feel more out of step, out of sync, out of his depth and normal. It was truly baffling to him, because she made him feel like a stumbling fool with nothing but a look.

She'd be a good interrogator because of that effect, he guessed.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	10. Part 1: Chapter 10

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 10**

Was Ino particularly pleased to see Shikamaru with Temari on her porch when she was cooking a late brunch for herself and Sai because they had both gotten a late start this morning? No. She, because she hadn't slept because of nightmares of when her father's mind was severed from her own, and Sai for whatever nightmares he dealt with. Needless to say, neither of them had gotten much sleep and met up at about three in the morning on the couch with their books and the desire for company to remind themselves they weren't alone.

Needless to say, when she had woken up this morning with Sai's head resting on hers because she was using his shoulder as her pillow it had not been the most comfortable of encounters. But they had been quick to discard their awkwardness when Sai had asked one of; what she was quickly dubbing 'his questions'; about social proprietary and if he should have slept with her and how he usually slept with Ugly. All of what he was saying had been so ridiculous she had ended up laughing knowing that if Sakura had heard half of what he was saying he'd have found himself being kicked through the mountains.

However, once they were back to normal and she had been cooking brunch there had been a knock on the door from Shikamaru and Temari was at his side. This had proceeded her inviting Temari in to cook and shutting Shikamaru out to essentially tell him he had hurt her with his words. However, she had proceeded to reach out for Sakura to make certain her friend was at the very least alive. After eating she told Temari she'd go get Sakura and Sasuke; mostly because she knew where they were, and Sakura wasn't as likely to punch her into the ground for startling her.

Which had led her to walking with Sai; who was keeping up clumsily on his crutches to where her best friend and the Uchiha were sleeping at this moment.

"Beautiful? Why are we going here?" Sai asked once they reached the battered gates of the Uchiha compound.

"Well, this is where Sakura's mind is, so this is where her body is, and if she's here, the Uchiha's here," Ino explained bluntly to her companion. He just nodded as he kept up with her and she kept her focus on Sakura's living chakra as she wound her way through the Uchiha compound. They finally reached a lake where Sakura was sleeping with Sasuke curling around her.

"Sakura!" Ino shouted.

"Ugly!" Sai hollered with her as they made their way down the hill. Her pink friend's wild haired head popped up as she looked around.

"You two are moving fast," Ino teased once she was close enough to Sakura and Sasuke; the Uchiha growled she heard and he seemed to try to hide behind Sakura to sleep still.

"Not what you think Ino," she mumbled.

"Morning Ugly, you have grass on your face," Sai infored Sakura.

"Morning Sai, thanks," she sighed. "What do you two want?"

"No one could find you or the Uchiha. The shift changes were freaking out, and I found you two finally! Shikamaru and Temari are requesting Sasuke for evaluation at the hospital," she said to her sleepy friend who grumbled something about five more minutes as she pulled a blanket over her head. Ino sighed, rolled her eyes and then yanked the blanket off of Sakura. "Sakura! It's noon already! Time to get up!" she snapped.

"NOON!?" Sakura boled up.

"Close enough," she amended. "We've been looking for you two for forever, up!" Ino ordered she saw Sai go over to the Uchiha and clearly was intending to pull the blanket off of Sasuke just then.

"Tough the blanket and I will set you on fire," a surly growl had Sai backing up as he looked to her, she shrugged with Sakura at Sai's uncertainty.

"We'll meet you at the…" Sakura blinked in confusion.

"The hospital, it's time for Sasuke's evaluation," Ino filed in.

"We'll be at the hospital in thrity minues," Sakura yawned as she stretched and tried to wake up.

"Alright," Ino grinned then she looked at Sai, he had physical therapy to attend today. "Come on Sai, time for your physical therapy," she said and started walking towards the compound entrance to go to the hospital.

It took Sai a few minutes to catch up to her but he did and they walked in companionable silence as they walked together. This was what she liked about Sai, he didn't need to talk with her to feel comfortable with him. He could just be, and he did that with her, she liked that. It felt really good, he wasn't judging her, he wasn't seeing her as the weakling, and he wasn't going to let her be something she wasn't. Ino really liked that about him.

"So what do you and Forehead talk about?" Ino asked, she guessed he had been talking with Sakura which was why he had been behind on catching up to her at the compound.

"Nothing too concerning," he answered and she smiled at his vague answer.

"You can tell me, Sai," she promised him.

"No, Ugly is far more terrifying than you," Sai informed her which made her believe it was a probably some secret between them. Sakura was terrifying too but it wasn't something to worry about if you asked her.

"Fine, don't tell me," she huffed out.

"Beautiful, Ugly is more terrifying than you," he repeated.

"You should really have more faith in me as your friend!" she would guilt him into telling her whatever this secret was, mostly because she didn't want to use her family's jutsu to break into his mind and pry whatever secret was in there out; he had been Root and he'd have a lot of secrets. However, she was aching to know what secret he and Sakura had going to make him so tightlipped about talking to her.

* * *

Sakura had reminded him of his promise he had made early on in his being sent into Ino's care. He knew there was no way to get out of his physical therapy, even when it was something he really, really, really didn't want to do because it hurt like a sone of a bitch all the damn time!

The people in the Torture and Interrogation Division looked like kind and cuddly people compared to the healers of the village; and Sakura was the most terrifying of all the healers! Mostly because she really didn't mind breaking every bone in a body to get her point across. But he was coming to think Beautiful could be just as terrifying as Ugly could be. And he wasn't even going to get started on how terrifying that could be.

Despite Beautiful's warm smiles, and sunny personality she was a scary woman when her temper was riled and he'd only seen it once directed at Shikamaru and Chōji in that fight the other day.

"Well, if you won't tell me; fine!" she huffed out. "You're getting your cast removed today, by the way, and I talked to Tsunade about checking your hand over. She thinks Sakura did a good job in there, with my help of course, but she wants to see the progress of your healing."

"Thank you Beautiful," he smiled earnestly then as they made it to the hospital. Tsunade was actually in the lobby and just took him with her as she went to look over his hand and remove his cast.

Sai was relieved to have his cast removed but as she unbandage his bruised, mangled hand; he was pleased to see it looking like… well, a hand.

"This is looking good, I see Sakura infused her healing chakra with your cells," Tsunade observed. He said nothing because he honestly didn't know what Sakura had done to his hand. Mostly because he had never asked her. Ugly had told him his hand was in a bad way, but she was hopeful that if he just trusted Ino to help finish healing him up he'd be alright. She had even vouched for Beautiful's healing skills. Though Beautiful's chakra was not as smooth ask Ugly's he did find her chakra to be… comfortable if a bit invasive.

"I want to scan your hand and see how it's healing up, but judging by the scaring from the surgery, Ino and Sakura fixed it up well, now, do you mind holding your hand out for me while I get an x-ray of it and scan it over a few times?"

"Do whatever you need to do, I am not a doctor," he said politely because he had long since learnt that arguing with doctors was like trying to talk to a brick wall. They would do what they felt to be necessary and sometimes the patient didn't like that. But he wasn't about to be the one to point this out to Tsunade.

"Alright, come with me," she ordered.

He spent the next hour having his hand examined and pictured and studied. Tsunade chatted with Beautiful about 'what they were going to do about his hand' without him and he just silently sat there staring at the useless appendage. He didn't like this, he didn't like having a broken hand, and he really didn't like the fact that he had been called off of active duty because of this hand.

Damn it all!

He was only good at one thing outside of missions, and it appeared that the fates were going to be so cruel as to take that away from him as well as his brother. Painting was the only thing he knew how to do, it had been the only way he had been able to express himself in Root without Danzo lecturing him. It had been an escape from his reality; if only for a moment. There was also the matter of he was only good at killing people, it was really the only thing he knew how to do and if he didn't have his hand then he couldn't even do that properly because his jutsu required him to be able to paint. Sai hid his pain in this matter carefully though when Ino came to him with a smile.

"Tsunade has exercises for you to do to help with healing your hand, she is pleased with how it is healing, says it's looking really good Sai. We are to apply this salve nightly and bandage it up, you are to have it unbandage for a few hours a day while we work the exercises to strengthen your hand and get dexterity back in it too," she announced.

He looked up from his mangled hand to her then and she smiled a genuinely warm smile which had his heart doing weird things again.

"Cheer up Sai, Tsunade is really hopeful that you will regain full use of your hand," Beautiful informed him happily.

"Uh-huh," he managed, his throat felt tight and his chest was heavy, he could also feel his eyes burning. This was a strange sensation which had him feeling confused because this felt… good. The news was good, and it felt like his body was suffocating at the news.

"If you want a second opinion I can find Sakura and we can ask her to look the images over, but I would trust Lady Tsunade just as much as I would trust Sakura if I were you; maybe even more so because Tsunade taught Forehead everything she knows." Beautiful said and she slid her fingers through his disheveld hair and he leaned forward as he wrapped his good arm around her and pulled her close. He just didn't know how to convey what he was feeling and a book had said hugs were a good way to convey feelings of gratitude, so he was hugging her as he hid his face in her shoulder.

"Uh… Sai?"

"Thank you, I do not know why but I feel I should thank you," he said as he let her go.

"Oh… well, thanks Sai, I want to thank you for being here for me even though I know I haven't been easy to be with," Ino mumbled as she bit her lip and looked away nervously. Her face had a tint of pink which he liked on her cheeks.

"We are friends right? Is this not what friends do for friends?" he asked, he was still confused about the whole friend thing outside of Team 7 but he was determined to figure it out.

"Yeah Sai, we're friends, and friends are always there for friends," she smiled rather prettily then and he felt his mind go to mush at the sight. He knew then what true beauty was… and the funny thing was he had never really been looking for it.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	11. Part 1: Chapter 11

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 11**

After they had stopped at the Yamanaka lot for Ino's family flower shop and she had eagerly thought about what she was going to do with the lot and the family flower shop he found himself again in the Yamanaka compound staring at the tree leaves as the sun sunk below the horizon and it stained the skies red while fighting to stay up. He had always liked sunsets and sunrises, they were different, a flare of life in an otherwise dull sky; blue was a nice color, but it was somehow dull because it never changed.

Then again, Beautiful's eyes were the same color as the sky on a clear day and he liked her eyes, he never thought them to be monotone like himself.

Sai lifted his bandaged hand again and stared at it for a long moment before a sigh escaped his lips again and he gently placed his hand at his side and he closed his eyes as he tried not to laugh at the cruelty of losing his hand.

Oh, he knew what Tsunade and Beautiful were saying about his hand, he knew, and he knew full well that there was a very real possibility that he'd never be able to use his hand again. He was a realist above all else, after all, Root had taught him that dreams and emotions were futile and pointless, rarely leading someone to where they needed to go. And he was not going to be an optimist like Naruto when clearly there was nothing for him to be optimistic about. But he wasn't going to be a pessimist either, he was just… he was just going to be a realist, he thought with a deep breath.

"Hey," he opened his eyes and lifted his head to see Ino standing against the post on her porch.

"Hello Beautiful," he replied as his head fell back into the grass again and he stared up at the trees then.

"I know you're not happy about your hand," she started, he heard her approaching him and heard her sit in the grass. "But I'm telling you as a friend that you need to believe me when I'm believe you are going to get well again."

"Beautiful, why do you want to join Intelligence? I am not saying you cannot do it, I would just like to… understand," Sai said, hoping to switch the topic.

"Well, I've never been good at anything," she said honestly. "I used to be the best, and the prettiest, but then Sakura got onto Team 7, and during the Pain attack Hinata leapt into action, Temari's always been impressive, and Tenten's amazing, they're all brilliant kunoichi, and they've all worked hard to get to where they are. Then there's Chōji and Shikamaru and they have their useful, secret family jutsus, and they… they're a huge asset to the village. And then there's me, and I look around at everyone around me and they're all so amazing and then there's me, and now, now I'm not the best, I'm not the prettiest, and I'm not even that great of a kunoichi.

"I don't have the best chakra control, I don't have the best medical ninjutsu," she laughed then. "You know, Tsunade used to have Sakura, Sakura; you know Forehead who used to be the biggest cry baby ever, she had Sakura teach me sometimes. My team only protects me, I mean, when I leave my body and I'm defenseless, at least that's what they tell me, but Chōji and Shikamaru are very careful to keep me out of all fights because none of my hand to hand skills are up to snuff with theirs, and they can't even just say it out loud 'Ino,-you're-useless'.

"And I have a secret family jutsu which has no use outside of spying and interrogation. The one time I used it in actual combat Sakura's weird mind lashed out and threw me out of her body after beating me to a bloody pulp, and we were only genin," she smiled bitterly and he stared at her with 'new eyes' as Sakura had once told him it was termed.

She was so much more than she was giving herself credit for, and despite all her shows of confidence; because even he knew what confidence was, she seemed very, insecure. Which was startling to him because Sakura was the insecure one after all the blows to her pride and self-esteem; but now he was seeing the woman Ugly looked to for confidence shatter before his very eyes. He was… shocked?... he guessed, that she was this fragile when she always seemed so sure of herself.

"I could help you prepare for working as Morino Ibiki's apprentice," he offered. He had helped Ugly occasionally with her medical ninjutsu, and honestly; it wasn't like there was something in his head Ino wouldn't be seeing once she started working for the sadist in Intelligence.

"What?" she blinked and he stared at sky colored eyes which had him both wanting to stare into her eyes for forever and look away.

"I could help you prepare for working as Morino Ibiki's apprentice," he repeated.

"You would do that?" she asked him uncertainly.

"Yes," he replied firmly. He knew he could not waver here, and besides, it wasn't like anything had ever been private in his head with Yamanaka Fū in Root, and how Danzo would pry into their heads mercilessly. Root was comprised of secrets, but there were no secrets from Danzo.

"You do know I would be prying into your head right?" she asked him.

He flinched a bit but he nodded. If he wanted something hidden then he could hide it; like all his odd reactions to Beautiful, but he wasn't going to deny her the chance to have help to boost her confidence. He felt she should always be confident, just like she appeared to everyone around her, however, a part of him seemed to like the fact he was seeing this part of her. And again he was confused by his reactions to her.

* * *

Ino just stared owlishly at the mysterious, pale man before her and smiled then. He was giving her something no one besides Sakura had ever really given her, he was putting his faith in her and she… well, she was happy about that as she smiled at his blank expression.

"Well, if you're alright with it," she smiled and then stood. "But if you're going to put faith in having me pry around your head and not kill you in the process then I'm going to ask that you put faith in me when I say your hand is going to be fine. Or I can have Sakura come here and tell you that your hand is going to be alright."

"Beautiful…" he started and then he was looking at his hand as if it were shattered beyond repair which had her sighing. He was too nice, in his way, and he didn't have much confidence, well; she was going to have to help him get his confidence.

"A hand is something that heals, Sai, it's not a wound of the mind or of the heart," she said and then his inky eyes looked to her as if he had just been told something profound.

"Alright," he nodded.

"Good, now, I'm cooking dinner so you should come in," she said and he followed her into the house.

It was a quiet few hours now, but it was companionable for the two of them. She liked the fact Sai didn't pressure her to talk when she didn't feel like it, or to be sunny and happy like Shikamaru and Chōji thought she should always be. She liked that Sai just accepted her as she was, and it made her happy that he didn't have expectations of her, he was the first to never expect something of her and yet he offered her everything in his own way. He put his faith in her, and that was something she was coming to cherish. Especially after the fight she had had with Shikamaru and Chōji about joining Intelligence.

After eating and cleaning up she left Sai with a 'good-night' and headed off to her quarters. Once in her quarters she pulled her long, heavy hair down and teased it a bit as she stripped and walked into the shower.

Part of her was tempted to reach out to Chōji and Shikamaru and reestablish their link because she found she missed having them in the back of her mind to reaffirm they were alive and well, but she also found she couldn't forgive them. Not just yet, they had both done a good job knocking her confidence in going into Intelligence down a few painful pegs; and for very selfish reasons. But once they realized she was right for a change and that she would be good at this, then she'd forgive them. She would not let them catch her for forever.

After finishing her shower she pulled on a purple nightie and fell onto her futon; she missed her bed, and let the sleep crash into her. Her exhaustion came from her ever turbulent emotions as of late and she just wanted peace again. She needed peace again, as she let the sleep consume her.

She bolted up in a cold sweat feeling like half her mind had been severed just as her father's last thoughts touched her mind before he was incinerated into ash from a Tailed Beast bomb. She scrambled to her feet and threw open the door of her quarters. Her sensory skills were on full as she deftly navigated the old home to the only other person on her property and she slid open his door.

"Mm?" he moaned. "Ino?"

"Sai, can I sleep here?" she whispered.

"Uh…" he groaned and she saw his inky eyes in the sliver of moonlight from the sliver of moon illuminating his room.

"Thanks!" she squeaked, she didn't let him answer for real as she hurried into his bed and pulled the covers around her. His sleepy eyes just looked her over. "I don't want to be alone," she whispered.

"Oh, is this something friends do?" he asked her and she nodded (yes, she knew she was taking advantage of his naïve inexperience with other people, but she didn't care since she didn't want to be alone.).

"Ugly just likes heat," he mumbled into his pillow and she giggled.

"You don't have too many girl friends, do you Sai?" she mused with a yawn.

"Ugly's the only one," he replied evenly.

"Thanks Sai," she mumbled as sleep consumed them both again. She liked not feeling like she was alone as her hand grabbed his good hand and held it loosely.

* * *

Sai woke up before dawn on his back, however that wasn't the odd part to him.

The odd part was the woman who had wrapped herself around his upper body and head. His ear was pressed against a warm, soft weight which he was pretty certain was her breast, her chin was resting on his head, her arm around his neck and shoulders, his own arm as wrapped around the leg against his side and her other leg was hooked around his chest with her toes under his arm as if for warmth.

More baffling was the fact he hadn't notice this happen, but when he tilted his head back and saw her sleeping soundly and peacefully he decided it was best to just go to sleep again and let her detangle them when she woke up.

She grumbled something and he turned his head against her chest a bit when he heard her heart speed up a bit then settle.

He rather liked where he was, he decided as he went to sleep again and enjoyed the soft warmth of Ino. It felt comfortable to be like this for a moment as he fell into a peaceful sleep free of his nightmares.

* * *

 **Alright, I'm going to be honest with you and say the letter before was not a lie, but rather I'm not always in a happy mood to write the other stories; because face it, most of them are pretty fluffy and light. Which means that I will occasionally grace one of five UtDI... Stories with a chapter. But don't get your hopes up that this will be regular until September.**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	12. Part 1: Chapter 12

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 12**

Ino stood on the lot with an architect and Sai, they had been talking to the architect before she took Sai off for training. There was the rehabbing on his hand to also consider for when they were training, but the eders of her clan were looking for her to fix the clan. To do this she needed to finish the rebuilding of the Flower Shop and redesign the gardens the Yamanaka Family had so as to resume their contracts with the hospitals, ANBU in need of poisons, the researchers, and other customers. The Flower shop was the civilian front, to keep the Yamanaka clan involved with the village, the true business was behind the scenes in the shinobi world.

"You like the plans?" the architect asked then as she looked the plans over.

"Sai, you're the artist, what do you think?" Ino prompted. She was trying to break him of his bleak outlook on his hand problems. Instead she was trying to utilize his skills and get him engaged again. It was more challenging than she thought, he was so withdrawn again. Even if he had offered to let her probe his head to learn how to be in Intelligence.

Sai pointed to several areas and said they should be larger, that the street design was to bright, and the sign was too big for the design. She smiled and agreed with him, mostly because she'd trust the artist's eyes rather than her own.

"Thanks Sai," she smiled as she walked with him towards the training fields.

"You're welcome Beautiful," he smiled, but she could see it was strained.

"Sai, I'm not in a positive mood all the time either, but you have to keep your chin up," she chided. She didn't need him positive, she didn't even need him to be someone he wasn't right now. After all they were all hurting right now, it was just two months post war right now and no one was alright yet. She knew it was going to take a little time, time to heal, time to change, time to get used to the world as it was again.

But that didn't mean one couldn't try to heal from where they were right now, the first steps would be looking for the good in the world. The second step would be keeping one's head of and moving forward with the faith for things to be better than before.

"How!?" he finally grabbed her arm and spun her to him. She was startled to see anger contorting his features when he wasn't blank or smiling, he was so contained but she was startled to see his anger. "How the hell is this going to get better? I watched my brother be die a second time in the war, my hand is ruined and my jutsu requires my hand. I have nothing, I do not even have paintings or sketchbooks because Pain's attack ruined everything. I am nothing, Ino, so how the hell is this going to get better?"

* * *

Sai had been working really hard to try not to face the reality of his situation with how his hand was and how everything, and he did mean everything, everything was falling apart. He had been trying not to break because of this. But her telling him to keep his chin up was really the final straw after a week of dealing with her trying to be cheerful, even his false cheer was better than hers and he was hurting already today. He had woken up with his hand throbbing, his leg and back didn't feel good either, and he had had another nightmare about Shin exploding.

He glared into those blue eyes of hers' and he just wanted her to stop trying so damn hard to be cheerful when no one was cheerful. However, he pulled away from her when he saw tears well up in her eyes as she trembled.

"I don't know!" she finally shouted. "I don't know how this is going to get better! I have to believe it will though! And I need you to believe that you're going to be alright so I can believe we'll all be alright! Just need you to believe!" she shouted at him.

"I don't believe!" he snapped sharply.

"Fine then! I'll believe on my own!" she shouted at him and they stalked away from each other. Honestly, he wasn't even certain why he felt rage right now. Rage was an emotion he was all too familiar with, it one of the first he had been on the receiving end of and one of the fastest to identify and feel. It was like a fire in his gut, it was a pain filling his heart and a lava in his veins. It took a lot for him to get angry, but he knew anger when it filled him.

For an hour he wandered around the rebuilding village, he didn't have anywhere particular to go when he found himself standing at Team 7's training ground. He stared down at the ground and saw the re-growing grass on the field.

Looking up he closed his eyes as the wind hit him and moved through his hair.

There was nothing to believe in for him, Naruto had his best friend back and would probably not need his friendship anymore. Sakura was busy at the moment with the Uchiha, but he knew if he went to her then she'd make time for him. Kakashi was the new Hokage at this moment, and the last he had heard Yamato was in the Stone still comatose.

There was nothing for him to believe in anymore. He had survived the war, but his hand, the key to his jutsu and the one way he had been able to express himself earnestly, it was broken and he didn't believe he'd be alright. This just hurt, it hurt him all around and though Ino said she was his friend he didn't really know where they stood.

* * *

Ino was sitting against a new fence as she hid her face and her tears. She was hurting because of what Sai had said, but she was trying not to let him hurt her too badly.

It wasn't working.

Her breath hitched as she shakily released a breath and felt a few tears slip past her guard. Her bottom lip trembled as she dug her fingers into her scalp.

Yes, this was a pointless cry, but she was hurting so badly right now that she just wanted to curl up and die. She had lost her father before she make him proud of her, she had lost her mother in Pain's attack and never had a chance to apologize for that last fight they had had. She hadn't been useful until the end of the war, but afterwards she had felt like she had been brushed aside. Sakura had been useful, there had been injured to take care of, Shikamaru had joined a diplomatic envoy from the Leaf before he had been summoned home, and Chōji was helping rebuild the village to be better.

She was hurting because the one person who needed her had finally shouted he didn't need her because he didn't even have faith that he'd get better. Morino, though he was willing to train her would take her when she was ready, but she didn't know if she'd ever be ready. Shikamaru and Chōji both had ganged up on her and called her useless.

Oh, she knew it wasn't because they didn't care about her feeling, it was more of they were trying to protect her in their own ways. She didn't like it though. Her breath hitched as she finally folded her legs and let her head fall back as her hands rested in her lap. She wanted her dad now, she wanted him so badly that it was a dull, painful, all consuming ache in her soul. Like there was a painful hole in her heart, the hole was accompanied by the loss of her mother and the fact she didn't have anyone to talk with anymore with how busy the village was rebuilding and the world healing right now.

Kami did she ever hate this pain as she sat there wishing for death.

She didn't want to be head of her clan, she didn't want to stay useless, she didn't want no one to believe her to be more than the Yamanaka princess, and she didn't want to be alone right now as she felt her tears slip down her cheeks. Blearily she looked out the corner of her eye when she saw black pants legs walk to stand over her. she didn't look up, she didn't want to know who was here with her, seeing her in such an ugly state.

"I'm sorry," a voice said and she heard the person sit beside her and she turned her head to look at those dark eyes as her own tears slipped past her guard.

* * *

After he had stopped his anger, locked it away again he realized that he was alone and he should go find Ino before she came after him and punched him. She had seen upset enough with what he had had to say to want to hurt him. but he wasn't going to take it back.

Finding Ino had actually been challenging, which was why he was startled to find her in an alley crying.

For an awful moment when he had found her leaning against the wall and her eyes were teary, he had thought her dead because she seemed so lifeless. However, he was relieved when she had blinked, which had led to him walking over to stand over her, she didn't look at him though.

"I'm sorry," slipped reflexively from his lips and then he was sitting beside her.

Ino had turned to look at him and he looked away feeling a pain in his chest at the sight of her. she looked like a tearful wreck.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"Please don't hurt me again," she mumbled, he looked over at her then.

"I will try not to," he amended her promise because he knew friends hurt friends, Kakashi had explained it to him once when Sakura had been mad at him and given him the silent treatment. Even Naruto had once been mad at him and apparently hurt by something he had said. But in turn he had been hurt by them as well, he knew that, because sometimes something they said was like a jab to his chest and would have him losing sleep.

"Sai, I need you to believe, please," she whispered as she suddenly leaned on him.

"I do not believe though," he said it firmly. He couldn't believe in whatever it was she wanted him to believe because there was nothing for him. Team 7, the original Team 7, didn't need, nor want him, they never had. He had been a spy placed on their team and though he was now their friend he knew he had not been welcomed in with open arms and smiles like Naruto greeted Sasuke.

"Why not?" Ino asked.

"I am nothing, I will be anything, I am not even Sai," he answered solemnly.

"Well, that's bullshit, you're Sai, you're like Sakura's brother, and Naruto declared you his friend, and I'm certain Kakashi and Yamato think of you as a friend as well.

"How do you know?" Sai challenged.

"Because, you told me so, and family is forever, even when they hurt you, and you and I are friends," she stated which had him looking over to her then. "Please, believe, please, I need someone to believe."

"Fine," he grumbled. He had a feeling he wouldn't win this argument against Ino. besides, there was also the fact that he felt like he wanted something. but what he didn't know what it was he wanted now that the war was over and life was supposed to go on. At least before the war he had been helping Naruto and Sakura retrieve Sasuke, and now that the war was over he didn't know what he was supposed to do.

It felt like his purpose was missing, which was the part that hurt.

Perhaps he would latter ask Kakashi for a purpose again. After all the Hokage would have jobs for him, provided his hand worked again and he could be a shinobi again.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	13. Part 1: Chapter 13

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 13**

Something between them had shifted with their fight, Ino didn't know what it was, but it was different all the same as she was sitting there quietly reading that night and Sai was doing his excersies. They didn't talk to each other all that much anymore, but they were still amicable friends, it was probably the only reason she hadn't throttled him for being so pestimistic about life. She needed some optimism and despite his often cheery demeanor; though she had a feeling that was a sort of shield; she had come to realize Sai was annoyingly realist about his outlook on life. An ANBU puffed into her living room having her jump as he handed Sai a scrolled then disappeared without a word then.

"What is it?" Ino asked as she stood up.

"A letter from Kakashi," Sai answered. "Karui has stabbed Sakura again, and caused a riot against Sasuke, Sakura is hospitalized at the moment."

" _ **WHAT!?**_ " Ino roared then as she snatched the letter out of his hand then and read it over, her jaw dropped then.

" _ **I'M GOING TO KILL HER!**_ " Ino shouted as she marched to the door intent on tracking the redhead down and disemboweling her and setting the entrails on fire before dancing a jig on the bitch's ashes.

" _ **Do Not Do Something Rash Beautiful!**_ " Sai said as he grabbed her wrist, she spun around to him then.

" _ **NO! That's The Second Time She's Stabbed My Best Friend! And She Doesn't Care! When I Get My Hands On Her Again I'm Killing Her!**_ " Ino snapped as she tried to pull away from Sai's viselike grip.

" _Ino, that's not the best idea!_ " Sai tried calmly.

" _ **No! She Cannot Keep Doing That! That Bitch Is Going To Get Someone Killed! Probably Sakura!**_ " Ino shouted and saw a flash of panic in Sai's eyes and decided to play off of it then to get her way to get to Karui and strangle the redhead. "Karui Had No Right To Attack Sakura And That's That!"

"Ino!" Sai snapped at her.

"I'm going!" she argued.

"Be reasonable!" Sai pleaded with her.

"No! I'm going to track her down and kill her!" Ino shouted as she finally wiggled free of Sai's grasp and darted out of the house in fury as she ran through the Yamanka compound and then stopped as she focused her chakra and flared it out as she created her sensory field around her to find the bitch. She felt Sai fast approaching behind her and glanced over her shoulder as she continued looking for that 'shiny' chakra that she had come to know as the Cloud's and found it over at Chōji's place. A hand grabbed hers' then.

" _ **I've found her!"**_ Ino said as she dragged Sai after her then.

" _ **Beautiful! Please Be Rational About This! Ugly Wouldn't Want You To Kill Someone For Her!**_ " Sai argued.

" _ **I don't care!**_ " Ino snapped as she made her way to the Akimichi compound. She pulled away from Sai and ran up to the porch when she saw Chōji on the porch waiting for her. " _ **WHERE IS SHE CHŌJI!?**_ "

"Calm down Ino!" Chōji pleaded then.

" _ **No! I'm going to kill her! this is the second time she'd stabbed my best friend! Move Chōji!**_ " Ino shouted as she tried to shove past him.

"Wait Ino!" she heard Sai behind her but it didn't stop her, she was furious.

" _ **No! I'm killing her!**_ " Ino screamed and finally shoved Chōji off balance and stormed into the Akimichi residence as her chakra pulsed from her and found where Karui was and she followed it like a bat to insect at midnight with no light. Finally she ripped the double sliding doors open and glared at the redhead.

" _ **YOU BITCH!**_ " Ino screeched as she lunged for the redhead intent on killing her. a set of strong arms stopped her though and she found herself struggling against Temari then.

" _ **Ino! That Is Enough!**_ " Temari shouted in her ear. It didn't stop her though as she fingered the signs and projected her mind into Karui's who was drawing herself up to her feet then. Ino looked into those defiant gold eyes then and started screaming in Karui's head.

 _ **YOU HURT MY BEST FRIEND!**_

Karui clutched her head then as she collapsed and Ino's eyes narrowed on her target as she focused harder to create more pain on Karui's mind. She caught a passing thought from Karui wondering what this was and Ino screamed and shouted some more in that head.

 _ **THIS! THIS IS WHAT I DO! EVER TOUCH HARUNO SAKURA AGAIN AND I WILL INVADE YOUR MIND AND DRIVE YOU TO INSANITY UNTIL YOU WANT TO LEAP OFF A CLIFF! UNDERSTOOD!?**_ Ino roared as Karui looked up at her through the tears and nodded her head.

" _Ino!_ " she turned at Chōji's voice and glared at him.

" _What did you do?_ " Temari demanded as she was released.

"Beautiful, I told you not to be rash," Sai sighed.

" _ **Shut Up All Of You! She's Still Sane And Breathing!**_ " Ino screamed then. She hadn't been rash, she had been furious and she refused to feel guilty for this as she glared at the three behind her.

"She didn't mean to Ino, and you know it," Chōji scolded her. she folded her arms then as she glared at her larger teammate and steapped towards him.

" **She Did Too. You don't stab someone twice and not mean it** ," Ino snapped and dared him to argue with her because she was just looking for an excuse to rip something apart right now.

"Can't you just heal her wrist?" Chōji sighed.

"I never said I wouldn't heal her, Chōji. I just want her to understand. Now leave us, I'll fix her wrist," Ino snapped.

"I'll stay," Sai suddenly said in a dark tone which had her eyes narrowing on him.

"I don't need you here to monitor me," she argued with him.

"I'm staying all the same, Beautiful," he replied, but she frowned when he smiled his fake smile that assured her he'd be just as mean as she was if she tried to kick him out. With a huff of defeat she spun on the redhead and glared at her.

"Give me your wrist," Ino ordered sharply. There was no response as the redhead trembled and didn't move. Ino knelt to the girl's level and yanked her wrist out to examine it, she was going to make this hurt just to get through to this bitch about stabbing her best friend and then she'd leave.

* * *

Sai watched Beautiful, he could see she was still furious as she healed the redhead. And he could see now he was right, the girl did belong in Torture & Interogation, he could see it in her anger and how she was treating the redheaded Cloud kunoichi; whom he was refraining on beating up for daring to harm someone who was his family and for having harmed his friend Naruto.

"I'm not wasting chakra to dull your pain," Ino suddenly snapped which had Sai's eyes snapping onto the pained redhead then. "I think you deserve every ounce of pain this takes, go near Sakura again and I'll drive you insane," Ino threatened. "Don't think anyone will ever be able to save you when I come for you." she finished softly and Sai felt a blossom of pride in his chest at the ferocity of Beautiful's loyalty to her best friend/rival, and someone he considered family.

"Are you finished, Beautiful?" he asked, which had Ino's eyes snapping onto him then.

"Yeah, let's go see Sakura," Ino decided as she stood then and grabbed his hand. He followed her past the Suna kunoichi and Chōji and to the street. Ino stumbled a bit, something he remembered reading had him wrapping his good arm around her waist to keep her steady the.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

Ino just sagged against him.

"I kind of used up all my chakra with my assault on her mind, I haven't used that jutsu in a while," she mumbled and he saw a small trickle of blood come from her nose then.

"Let's go home," he said suddenly.

"But!" she started.

"We'll see Sakura later, she's probably not feeling up for visitors right now anyway," he lied as he started guiding Ino back to the Yamanaka compound then. She tried to protest, to pull away from him but every time he let her try to stand on her own she'd stumble and she'd end up neatly tucked against his side again as they walked. It was sad to him, when they arrived and he stared at the large majestic house, it was ironic that he had come to think of this place as home and he was only a mere guest, pathetic really.

"I can walk on my own Sai," she huffed indignantly. He released her when they reached the stairs and she nearly face planted which had him grabbing her again.

"Sai!" she whined.

"It is proper edicet to help a damsel in distress," he said tonelessly as they walked up into her home and he guided her to the table.

"I'm not a damsel in distress," she protested.

"You're bleeding." He stated once she was sitting then went to get her a rag.

"Ugh, sorry," Ino huffed as she wiped the blood from her nose, he said nothing as he handed her the rag and sat across from her. "I'm not usually this much of a mess, but my chakra reserves aren't what they should be again," Ino said as she tilted her head back to stem her bleeding nose.

"It is quite alright," he assured her as he sat there watching her.

"No, this is pathetic," she sighed. "Damn it! Am I really that pathetic!?"

"You are not pathetic," he promptly replied.

"I have a nose bleed from performing a simple mind invasion jutsu, I'm pathetic," she argued.

"No, you need practice, and for the past two months you have not attempted to use or practice your jutsu, today was the first time you used it. No doubt it felt a little odd using again, and if you keep practicing then you will have it down again in no time," he assured her.

A small part of him was hoping the same could be said with him when he finally had his hand back to practice his jutsu with again. But he didn't get his hopes up, the physical therapy that he had started was very difficult and painful and it was exceedingly tiresome. Strange really, exercising his hand exhausted him to the point of falling asleep after he'd finish the exercises.

"Is the offer for me to practice on you still open?" she asked suddenly, rousing him from his thoughts as he stared at his bandaged hand and looking back up at her. She looked a little ridiculous holding that bloody towel to her face but he felt his chest tighten weirdly again as he felt a real smile tug his lips.

"Certainly," he said earnestly. It might help him take his mind off of his own problems with helping her practice her family's jutsu.

"Great, we'll set up ground rules tomorrow, I don't want to pry where I'm not welcomed," she grumbled as she pulled the towel away. He smirked at the blood smearing her face above her lips, she looked… beautiful right then.

"Torture and Interrogation is about going where you are not welcomed," he pointed out to her.

"I know that but," she blew her nose then. "I don't want to lose our friendship because I pry into something I'm not supposed to look at."

That made sense to him as he looked at the blonde across from him.

"You won't lose me as your friend," he assured her then.

"Just in case," she argued.

"I thought you were an optimist," he teased with a cheery smile, she burst into laughter then and he liked the sound of it as they sat there in peace at the moment.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	14. Part 1: Chapter 14

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 14**

Ino sat there staring at the wall, this was not the best idea they had had since said had decided to be her 'practice buddy' for these exercises. She didn't know if she was just stupid for agreeing to use him for her practice partner, or if she was so desperate to prove Shikamaru wrong that she was willing to endanger Sai's life to do it.

Sai was reading over what she had written down as the terms of her doing this on him, and he had given her the list of things she was not to pry at or poke at in his mind; which had been a surprisingly small list.

Memories of his brother; no looking and no touching.

Memories of Team 7; look but no touching.

Root; free to pry.

Navigating his mind; free to do as she pleased.

Testing barriers; forewarning but she could look at them.

Prying at traumas; preferred to be left alone but she was free to delve into it.

And lastly; manipulating his mind, she was free to try.

Ino had been surprised, Sai on the other hand didn't really seem all that concerned about her prying. She was going into his head to learn, and he had warned her that his past as Root would not make this an easy feat which was why she was a little nervous about starting. However, this morning she was sending him off to breakfast with Sakura and she was ordering him to tell Sakura what was going on between them. Mostly because she didn't want to accidentally turn him into a vegetable and Sakura not have a good last memory of him. Also, she wanted it on Sakura's record that this stupid idea was completely his. And his alone.

She didn't want to practice on him, but since he had offered… well, she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth! She was going to get better and she was going to finally prove to Shikamaru and Chōji that they were wrong about her. the lazy genius and the gentle giant were wrong about her, she was not the weak link of Ino-Shika-Chō.

She wasn't!

And she was going to prove it by being the best at her family's secret jutsu ever. She was going to make her father and her father proud of her, and she was going to so useful that people were going to forever remember the name Yamanaka Ino as a vital part of the village. She was done moping around and sitting about on her ass.

Like her best friend had said weeks after the war: there was work to be done, time to mope later.

And by Kami she was going to work her ass off at being the best at Intelligence, at her family's jutsu and she was going to fix Sai's hand!

With that all firmly in her mind she stood up from the table after Sai had left and went to get a quick shower. She was going to get to work.

* * *

Sai found himself at Ugly's soon enough, he wanted to talk to her, but mostly he wanted to reassure himself that she was alright since the incident a few days ago. Apparently he hadn't been the only one though, he had seen Naruto perched outside her apartment and had invited him along to join him to talk to Sakura.

Breakfast was a little… strenuous, Naruto had admitted that he didn't think he could handle the Uchiha at this moment in time and that had put a lot of strain on Ugly. She hid it well, and he knew this was weighing heavily on Naruto so he decided to keep his agreement with Ino to himself to the time being. He'd talk to Sakura about it after Naruto left. It wasn't all that strenuous to him, he wasn't going to die doing this, he believed Ino to be quite efficant in her family's jutsu; after all she had connected thousands of minds on the battlefield and without one of the contraptions. If she could do that, then he was certain she could poke around his mind without 'turning him into a vegetable' as she had put it.

"Can we try Team 7 training again though, in two weeks?" Naruto's question roused him out of his thoughts and he looked over to Sakura and Naruto who seemed to have come to an understanding of one another at this moment.

"Certainly," Sakura nodded, and he smiled in genuine joy at their understanding of one another; it made him feel… warm when his team wasn't at odds with one another.

"May I join?" he asked. Sakura turned her attention on to him and smiled slightly.

"Certainly Sai," she grinned. "But can you start two weeks after Naruto does? I don't want to overwhelm Sasuke," she admitted.

"Certainly," he smiled. He hadn't ever trained with Sasuke, and after hearing about the incident a few days ago in the village with the Uchiha being overwhelmed he didn't want to impose himself too greatly on Sakura who seemed a bit run down at this moment. And the last thing he wanted was her hurt because of Sasuke; he had seen the damage the traitor had done to her and he didn't want her hurt anymore.

For the next several hours he laughed at the stories they had going of the old Team 7 training days, in particular they were telling him about the bells test with great glee and gusto.

"And Kakashi did this… Thousand Years of Death jab to Naruto's prostrate and he went flying and screaming, you couldn't miss the orange projectile!" Sakura wheezed out with her laughter, he found himself laughing too because his artist's eye could see the scene all to clearly.

"It wasn't that funny!" Naruto laughed. Sai noticed Sasuke and Kakashi walk in then and grinned as he returned his attention to Sakura and Naruto.

"Dickless sure was an exuberant genin," he mused as he looked between the too.

"He was screaming, and flying! And Kakashi was standing there like this," Sakura was laughing so hard as she demonstraited the pose, he saw the Uchiha smirk a bit at Sakura's antics and he too found himself amused.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and he was so loud!" she laughed as she held her stomach. Naruto gave her a nudge, Sai laughed when there was a shriek of laughter, legs flying and a thud. Kakashi took that time to take a seat beside him as she Uchiha stood over Sakura. Naruto tensed a little, but Sai didn't, he sensed no malice from the traitor just then.

"And I fainted when I found Sasuke's head," Sakura announce from beneath the table after a heavy moment of tension which had Naruto bursting into laughter as his chair fell back.

"Really!?" dickless roared with laughter.

"Aa," the traito nodded as he took a seat and Sakura pulled herself up to the table with a huge goofy smile he hadn't seen on her face; ever. Sai looked slyly to Kakashi who seemed to be smiling behind his mask and then he looked back to Sakura and Sasuke; he could live with it if Sasuke made her smile like that then.

"I knew you had it bad then, Sakura; but I didn't think you were a fainter!" Naruto was laughing.

"Big time," she giggled as she grabbed the chair between him and the traitor.

"So Ugly can faint," he teased and then he looked over to her with his smile. "I did not think that possible," he lied.

"Shut it Sai," she giggled and nudged him, he nudged her back since that was proper, and it felt natural. "And I'll have you know I grew out of it," she informed him haughtly which had him snickering a little and Naruto burst into another bout of laughter.

Before he knew it he found himself having lunch with Team 7 again and he enjoyed it. The traitor didn't say much, but even Sai could see the slight smile around his lips as they ate. Finally Sakura said it was time for them to leave as she walked them out. He waited a little as she hugged Kakashi, waved off Naruto, and then turned to him.

"Beautiful is going to be practicing her family's mind jutsu on me before she enters Intelligence," he informed her abruptly which had her stopping from saying goodbye. Instead she placed her hand on his arm.

"Are you alright with that?" she asked quietly.

"I suggested she practice on me," he admitted.

"Sai, that's not what I'm asking," she said gently and he looked at her scincere look.

"I know," he admitted to her. "But I am helping her, and she wanted me to tell you just in case she accidentally turns me into a vegetable," he informed her blandly. She giggled a little.

"She won't turn you into a vegetable," Sakura assured him.

"I know, but she doesn't know that," he said and waved her off as he walked back to the Yamanka compound.

* * *

Ino was grinning like a mad woman; she could feel it on her lips; but she was so happy that she had a plan of attack for her and Sai that she was happy he had stayed out past lunch with Sakura. All of the plans were hashed out, and the rigorous schedule would be followed to the letter so they could be all ready to go in two and a half months; because that was when Sasuke was set for his final hearing. And then he was likely off to do the missions assigned to him.

And she was going to have Sai in the best condition she could get him in before Sakura took over the task, and she was going to walk into Intelligence with pride and with confidence, and she was going to kick ass!

Sai was all going to kick ass!

And she was going to prove Shikamaru and Chōji wrong. She was just as strong as them, and just as useful, and just as important!

Ever since her confrontation with Karui, and then threatening Sakura with body possession and walking off with her body; Ino had felt empowered as she looked over her plans and schedules and decided that it was all going to work. she was going to make it work!

"Hey Sai!" she grinned when he walked in and kicked off his sandals again.

"Beautiful," he greeted and looked at their kitchen table. "What is all of this?"

"This, is our plan of attack! This is how we're going to fix your hand, and practice my mind jutsu and have you ready for the ANBU again!" she gleefully declared.

"The ANBU?" he asked.

"Of course, I don't think the Sixth Hokage is going to let Root stay around after the fiasco with Danzo taking over the village; or trying too," Ino snorted. She also had peeked into Kakashi's mind on the matter this morning and seen he was planning on dividing Root up and placing them strategically into the ANBU, she had also seen he was thinking of putting Sai in charge of the Root members' transition into the ANBU.

And yes, she had only peeked into Kakashi's mind this morning in her shower when it had occurred to her that Sai needed a goal to reach to get better; and she'd been at a loss. So she had 'peeked' into the Hokage's mind subtly and seen what she needed to see before collapsing in her shower with a nose bleed.

"Hmm," Sai hummed as he was thoughtfully looking over the schedules she had set up. "In four weeks I will start training with Team 7 as well, I think we should add you to that training as well," he decided. She blushed a little but penciled it in then.

"Alright, and we're starting right now," she informed him as she grabbed his wrist to take him to the gardens.

"Now?" he questioned.

"Now!" she repeated and they both sat in the grasses and she started the healing session on his hand then, after slicing off the bandages and looking the surgical wounds over again.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	15. Part 1: Chapter 15

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 15**

Today was the first official day of their training as they sat in the Yamanaka garden doing Sai's hand excersizes. He wasn't happy about them but she figured that if they knocked that out first then he wouldn't complain as much about his head being invaded. Besides, his hand was far more important than her prying into his head when she hadn't been doing it too well the other two times she had used it post war.

Part of her wanted to reach out to Shikamaru and Chōji again, she had been told by Temari that they had left on a diplomatic mission yesterday. But she wouldn't, not until she proved it to them that she wasn't the weak link of Ino-Shika-Chō! But still… she had wanted to. She had wanted them in the back of her mind to know that she could invade Sai's mind and look around, pry at things.

He had warned her that he wasn't going to make it a walk in the park for her and a part of her was thrilled with it.

The other reasonable failure part of her was terrified of this idea. This whole plan was a bad idea on many levels, and she wanted to say that to him. However, she didn't because she… she wanted to make her father proud of her. She hadn't been able to make the great Yamanaka Inoichi proud of her when he had been alive, she had grown used to his love but she knew she didn't have his pride.

He had once told her she was too flighty, flitting between specialties with no regard for what he had to teach her. Ino had pointed out that a jack of all trades was useful on a team. Inoichi had pointed out that a jack of all trades was a master of none and then he had left her alone.

She had been furious at him for so long about what he had said to her that she had let it carry on until the Pain Assault and then there had been the war… well, she had wished for the oprotunity to have made him proud. Like Shikaku had been proud of Shikamaru.

But nope, she was forever her father's disappointment no doubt

"So you are slowly getting your full range of motion back," she observed as they went through his exercises slowly this morning.

"I guess," he answered and she looked over to him to see his confusion on his face. When he was uncertain about things he got a furrow in his brow and a slight frown about his mouth, she thought it adorable, but he didn't need to know she thought him sexy.

No he didn't, she had a feeling it would just confuse him a little more.

And Ino didn't want that as she sat there watching his hand slowly and painfully move according to the exercises. He winced in pain and they did this for a few more hours.

Reluctantly she admitted it was time for her to wrap his hand again and they'd move on to her half of their exercises. She was not looking forward to this, but Sai was stubborn apparently. He said persistent; but she knew stubbornness when she met it. She was a stubborn person, and it took one to know one.

"Are you ready?" she asked him reluctantly after their meal.

"Stop hesitating," he ordered cheerily and she frowned at him for not taking this seriously as she closed her eyes, placed her fingers on his temples and slowly transferred her mind into his. She did not possess his body so he was sitting guard over her body at this moment, but she was leaving her body exposed. The thought made her uneasy but she did it anyway as she slipped forward and came to the first door in Sai's mind.

It was huge like the Leaf's gates, there was a single engraving on this door though and it broke her heart.

Sai.

No matter, she gingerly pushed the gates and they flew open. She squeaked at that action and then slipped past them. They slammed shut behind her and his mind was illuminated by many other lights and which brought to her attention the many gates around his mind, and many of them were genjutsu gates, others were actual seals, and she turned and turned in fascination at the sight until an inky Sai materialized before her which had her yelping.

"What the hell Sai!" she shouted.

"You have two hours to get through five gates, Beautiful," he smiled and then hew as gone. She huffed, five gates shouldn't be too hard…

Ino collapsed on hour three of gate seven and found herself being caught by strong arms before she fell off her porch and into the grass. She tasted the tang of blood on her tongue and realized her nose was bleeding. A tremble wracked her body suddenly and she shut her eyes to get her bearings again.

"You did well Beautiful," the male holding her informed her with a cheery fake tone which had her smiling in triumph.

"What the hell Sai?" she said as she finally pulled herself up and sat there shaking on the wood.

"A relation of yours was in Root and he taught us many ways to shield our minds," he said cheerily which had her giggling a bit.

"Ah, that explains why that was so difficult," she giggled. Only the Yamanaka would ever do that to their own minds. As far as she knew they were the only clan in the world to use telepathy and other mind jutsus, and because of that her mind looked a bit like what Sai's had looked like.

"Training is supposed to be a challenge," Sai informed her tonelessly which had her laughing.

"Alright, now for our training," she huffed out as she stood. Her feet were shaky then.

"Perhaps after you eat and rest for an hour," Sai suggested when he caught her as she stumbled a few steps.

"Good idea," she agreed.

* * *

Sai had said he was never really worried about her poking and prying around in his head because he had meant it. There was nothing she could damage, break or steal from him that Danzo hadn't already seen or heard. Well there were a few things which she wouldn't be able to get to without a serious fight, but those were the few things he had always guarded and would forever guard.

After Ino had rested up and was on steady legs again she had insisted they spar. It was ridiculous in his mind, but he was willing to let her have her way. There seemed to be something driving her now which hadn't been there before the incident with Karui. Sai would have liked to known what was driving her but he didn't think of asking because he didn't want to offend her again.

His little outburst of anger and frustration had changed something between them and made them, dare he describe it as fragile? He didn't know, but that's what it felt like to him. It felt like whatever was between them was… fragile. Yes, it was like he was holding a piece of glass and told not to drop it else it'd shatter into millions of tiny shards never to be reassembled.

That was the way he could think of whatever was between him and Ino.

He did not know if they were friends anymore or not, not since their fight. But they were something. Sai wanted to find Ugly and ask her but after having seen her the other day with the Uchiha he could see that she had set her priorities for the moment and since he was pretty well off compared to dickless and the traitor, he knew he was not a priority of hers' at this moment. Which was why he just planned on chatting to her once things had settled and she was alright. Again.

For now, though, he'd trust Ino and would enjoy her company.

Said found that he actually liked Ino's company which was shocking. And he thought she like his as well; she smiled around him quite often and he was coming to like the smiles.

She was also always around for him, though he found it odd that she would jump into his bed on random nights and wrap herself around him as if she were terrified of everyone disappearing on her.

He had asked her about it and she hadn't answered him since he had asked last week just after their argument when she had slept with him that night.

Right now though he moved his mind from all ponderings Ino, and evaded the punch aimed for his head as he spun around her and neatly knocked her off center. She startled him though by grabbing his arm as she went down, rolling him over and straddling him with a kunai at his throat.

"That's a nice move Beatuiful," he smiled in genuine delight at her surprise move. But he wasn't Root for nothing as he lightly tapped her ribs with a kunai of his own and she pouted.

"Damn it… I thought…" she sighed. He didn't like how quickly discouraged she was. But then, he understood how frustrating it could be to be trying, and trying and trying and failing the entire time. it was perhaps the only reason he hadn't really bothered Beauriful with his inconsequential problems that he was having around her. like at this moment with her straddling his lower abdomen.

She clambered up to her feet and he slowly got to his own, his leg throbbing with every move but he was pleased to have accomplished it.

"I guess I'm really not that great," she sighed.

"Why do you say that Beautiful?" he asked.

"Because I was trying to read your mind to figure out your next moves," she answered and he blinked.

"I thought your family jutsu was not useful for battle," he said. He wasn't trying to hurt her feelings or anything, he was just saying what he had been told repeatedly.

"It's not, but… I've been testing… it," she mumbled.

"Since when?" he asked her.

"Uh… since I invaded Karui's head," she admitted.

"I am confused," he admitted.

"I… it's hard to explain but rather like a bat uses echolocation I pulsed my chakra to find her. And I was… well I was prying into her mind when I was mobile trying to figure out what she had done and if she was sorry for it and I… I don't know, it shouldn't work when you're mobile but I was testing it…" she admitted shyly which had him smiling in genuine cheer at her admittance.

"That is a good thought," he admitted. "Use to find out what you're opponent's doing."

"Yeah, but the problem is that the part of the brain that moves the body isn't conscious thought, and its… it's really hard to read," she admitted.

"What are you reading?" he asked her.

"Well, it's like when I was flaring my chakra to find Karui, I'm reading the chakra signals, only it's the brain's signals too and the chakra is tiny as it follows the electrical impulses of the brain's networks. It moves so fast that I could barely sense it while I was fighting you," she admitted.

"But you sensed it," he pointed out.

She blinked.

"Huh, I guess I did…" she trailed off and he knew she was lost in her thoughts as they stood there in silence.

"Want to try again," he offered.

"Really!?" she smiled.

"Of course, this could be a useful skill in a battle and in Torture & Interrogation," he admitted. He could see many other uses for this if it worked, but he'd keep those to himself since he did not want to frighten Ino so much.

"Alright," she huffed out and they started out, slowly this time as she seemed more focused on what she was doing with her chakra than the spar they were having.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	16. Part 1: Chapter 16

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 16**

Sai and she were standing on the walk way huffing as they ran, it had been a bit into the week since the incident with Sasuke and the villagers, and Ino hadn't seen Karui since then. Which was a relief for her.

"Come on Sai," she huffed. "If Guy can do this, so can we!"

"You are a sadistic woman," Sai huffed as they both groaned and started the jogging again. She knew she was probably being really cruel at this moment but she didn't care as she jogged more with Sai. They were working on endurance again, Sai thought she needed it for her practicing her chakra control and she found herself running now; and pulsing her chakra to keep a sense of where everyone was around her. It was exhausting and it revealed how out of shape she and Sai had become. Which was a bit painful as they jogged.

"Torture & Interrogation!" she breathed with an evil smile as she jogged a bit.

"I hate you," Sai grumbled.

"Ah! You love me!" she laughed as she stumbled a bit in her distraction and they kept jogging. The sight of Temari had an idea flitting in her head which she had been entertaining for a bit. She wanted a night with her other friends, just a night to remind her that there were more than Shikamaru and Chōji in her life.

"Hey Temari!" she called out. The sandy blonde turned towards her then.

"Ino?" Temari looked bewildered as she came to a halt then. Ino decided to do what usually started off conversations for her and fish for a tidbit of gossip.

"I heard you kick Karui out of here!" she grinned as she tried to catch her breath then.

"It was that or have an international incident," Temari replied. Ino just sighed; it was Karui's own fault anyway. It wasn't like Ino particularly cared about the redhead.

"Good riddance," she replied.

"I'm going back to the compound," Sai replied and then he ran off before she could protest to him. Ino chuckled as she grinned and then looked to Temari, she knew full well why Sai was avoiding her at this moment.

"I've been making him do physical therpy for his hand," she explained then giggled. "I think he hates me."

Temari chuckled then as well as they both knew why this was hilarious.

"Men are babies," Temari mused and Ino nodded her head as she burst into a fit of giggles.

"I know! But he's so much fun to torture!" she replied thinking of something that had come as a joke between them and what she was going to go do. "Hey you should come over to dinner sometime!"

"I should?"

"Yeah! It'll be fun! We've never hung out without Shikamaru and Chōji around! Girls night!" Ino declared. She liked Temari and would like to have Temari as her friend rather than a friend of a friend.

"Uh, alright?" Temari didn't sound too certain as she answered but Ino was not thrown at all by Temari's uncertainty.

"Great! I'll see if I can get Sakura to relinquish custody of the Uchiha for a night and we'll have an awesome, male-free, get together!" Ino decided. She could get rid of Sai for a night, it wasn't that big of a deal if he had to go hang out with Naruto or something for a night.

"Sounds like a plan," the sandy blonde chuckled.

"Great! I'll make the plans and we'll have a lazy night, I'll kick Sai out to hang with Naruto or Kakashi…" she was pondering this when another idea hit her. "Oh! I should invite Tenten and Hinata! Then it will really be a girl's night!"

Temari chuckled then.

"I'll get a hold of you with the details later!" she declared. She could use her family's jutsu to do this, she could and she wasn't going to wimp out about using it.

"Alright Ino," the older woman surrended with an exasperated chuckle. Ino just grinned feeling more like herself than she had in months as she started jogging off to continue her tortures of Sai.

"Later Temari!" she waved and never looked back.

A girl's night was just what they all needed. Ino felt great as she started making plans for them in her head and started enjoying her jog back to the Yamanaka compound. She rather liked the idea of being her normal self again. She didn't want to miss out on anything else anymore as she saw Sai in front of her. Sai was looking at the park then and she smiled as she looked out at the park then. The kids were laughing, they were playing and they were… they were being children. Ino just stood with Sai as they watched for a long moment in silence.

"Do you think they know about pain or suffering?" Sai asked her softly.

"No," she replied steadily. The giggling children knew nothing of pain or of suffering, and they certainly didn't know about cruelty in this world or their coming lives. For now they were happy, giggling children who were running after a ball.

"Asuma-sensei told us that they are the kings," she whispered the admittance softly.

"What?"

"Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei used play shōgi all the time, and it was their secret; what to protect in real life. The children are the kings, and they are to be protected," she explained softly.

"Children are… unusual," Sai decided.

"I think the word you are seeking is innocent," she chuckled. Sai said nothing and she walked with him as they retruned to the Yamanaka compound. She didn't say anything about what she was thinking, for she was mostly thinking about her friends who were out of the village. She wondered how they were doing, she wondered if her friends missed her at all, but then again she had always been a nusence to Shikamaru and Chōji, perhaps they did not miss her at all. She didn't know, and she didn't want to dwell on it.

"Race you to the compound!" she said as she tapped his shoulder grinned and then she bolted away from him.

* * *

Sai groaned but he darted after Ino then. She was fast, but he did not think her too quick as to not be captured again. He managed to tie with her as they reached the front door.

"That was fun!" she declared. He didn't say that running around like that was hell, but he just nodded as he tried to catch his breath again. She left him behind and he decided that she was a very confusing busy body, but for whatever reason he didn't mind her being a busy body at all as they both sat at the table.

"Are you trying to kill me, woman?" he demanded as his head fell back.

"Well, if we die, it's our own stupidity," she huffed out and he glared at her then as they sat there.

Sai closed his eyes as he remembered the sight of the children in the park. He didn't know what it was about that sight but he had not been able to see it as… well, as something other than innocence. Were children really ever that innocent?

He didn't remember ever being an innocent child, his entire life had been in Root. That's all he remembered really, he remembered Shin too, and he remembered their trainings. There wasn't much about his childhood that had centered around laughter or joy like what he had seen in the park.

"What did you speak to Temari about?" he asked. He knew Temari was a guard of Sakura's and the traitor's so he wondered what else there had been for them to discuss.

"Planning a girls' night," Ino admitted.

"Girls' night?" he inquired and she giggled.

"That's a secret," she said mysteriously and he sighed as his head fell back. If he had though Ugly to be confusing then he felt she was an open book compared to Beautiful. At least she was not as exasperating Dickless, in his mind.

"You are a very confusing woman Beautiful," he admitted and she laughed.

"What is confusing about me?" she asked and he felt like some sort of trap had been laid before him and he was about to be devoured by the sly predator this woman was. And make no mistake, Yamanaka Ino, despite all her silver looks and innocent laugh and pure spirit, was a cunning predator. He had been in Root long enough to learn when a young woman was a predator, a neutral, or prey. He was not as thick as people labeled him.

"Many things," he admitted and then he lifted his bandaged hand.

"You know, you are exceedingly confusing," she huffed out indignantly as she took his hand and grabbed the scissors. He winced a bit at the pressure on his mangled healing hand. But once the pressure of the wrappings were off of his hand he felt relieved as he looked at it. Ino's slim cool fingers then began to gently tug on his hands and his fingers and began tracing the scars of the surgeries.

Sai was baffled again at seeing the tint of gold on her skin as she examined his paper colored skin.

How was it she looked like sunshine when there was so little sunshine in this world?

"These are healing up nicely, I don't think I'll be able to rid you of the scars, but I think Sakura or Tsunade might be able to have a way to get rid of them if you want them gone," she admitted as he looked at the golden fingers touching his hand as she moving his fingers how she wanted.

"They are fine," he replied. Scars were scar, they didn't mean anything, and they didn't impair his abilities if he were to regain his abilities

"I think that you will have full use of your hand again," she admitted. He just sighed as he finally pulled his hand from her.

"Exercises," she ordered and he pulled away from her as he started following the exercises that he had been given. He hated them, but they were very challenging and important. They hurt him like a son of a bitch though as he worked them over.

"I'll make our lunch," Ino said as she left him alone with the exercises. Sai watched her go and wondered why the hell she was so… perky?... since the incident and confrontation with Karui Ino had seemed well…

More Ino.

Sai had never been particularly close to Ino or her Team before the war and it wasn't until now that he was even dealing with her. Ino was a very… odd creature, but he had great respect for her even before the war. But he figured her to be an exuberant creature.

"Do you want anything in particular?" she asked him.

"No, Beautiful," he called out as he focused on his hand and what he was doing. he ignored the searing pain of the exercises as he sat there the table. He smelt something delicious coming from the kitchen and tried not to focus on it as watched his once nimble fingers struggle with simple acts then.

"Here we are," Ino announced when she reappeared. He looked at the simple rice bowl she had made as she set one before him. he struggled with the chopsticks in his hand as he lifted them up. Once he had them in a steady grip he found it was easy to eat. They ate in relative silence then and then he found it comforting. After another hour of fighting with his hand and fingers, and splitting some of his new skin, Ino wrapped his hand up again as they went to the porch again and they repeated her pactice.

Cool fingers touched his temple then. He winced and a bit as a gentle, sharp pressure slid into his mind, and he felt Ino in his head again.

Her body went slack, he caught her then before she collapsed and gently sat her back again. He didn't know what compelled him to do his next act but it felt natural as he tucked her stray hair behind her ear and then he waited as he felt her gently prodding around in his head.

* * *

 **YAY! I'm Not Dead!**

 **Did You Miss Me!? Probably not, you guys probably just missed the updates... *sigh* =|**

 **Oh Well! =) Enjoy my week of writing with no internet for updates! I have written over 100,000 words for fanfiction so I hope you enjoy the chapters of all my stories!  
**

 **For Guests who are confused for the huge jump to the end I posted four new chapters today.**

 **For those of you who's emails I have spammed with updates... sorry, I had a lot of stuff to post!**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	17. Part 1: Chapter 17

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 17**

Ino had spent a week planning what was going to be needed for the girl's weekend. Her original plans of a girl's night out had evolved when she had started planning to bring Hinata and Tenten along. She was certain that Sakura, Temari and she would have a blast on a girl's night out, but bar hopping did not seem to be something Hinata would enjoy and it was definitely not something a four months pregnant woman shouldn't be doing. Pink and purple caught her eye and her lips curled into a smile then as she started jogging towards them.

"Sakura!"

"Hey Pig," Sakura grinned.

"Oh, awesome! You're here too Hinata!" Ino confirmed as she caught up to them. Hinata shyly smiled at her then.

"What's up?" Sakura asked.

"Next weekend we're all going to have a girl's weekend, and honestly I would have asked you about it sooner but I've been busy," she admitted. She had recently chatted with Morino about her apprenticeship in Intelligence and he had handed her the paperwork. The sheer amount of forms for joining his unit in Intelligence was astonishing!

"Morino has a lot of forms for me to fill out to just join an apprenticeship for Intelligence," she explained then seeing the confusion on Hinata's face at her statement of being busy.

"Where's Sai?" Sakura asked.

"Tsunade's, he had an appointment and wanted to go alone," she shrugged as they started walking together through the market.

"Girl's weekend?" Hinata asked softly and Ino grinned again as she turned her attention onto Hinata.

"Yeah! Invite Tenten, I'm taking you, Forehead, Temari, and Tenten out to the spa because we've earned it!" she declared. And they had earned it, damn it! Between the Pain Attack, the war, the loss, the grief, the work, and rebuilding themselves they had earned a fucking weekend free of all that, and to pretend for a moment they were all alright. Not all of them could be like Sakura and just plow through everything with the delicacy of a bull in a china shop.

"I'll see if Tenten wants to go…" Hinata said uncertainly.

"It'll be good for her and the baby," Sakura cut off Hinata then firmly.

"You think so?"

"Know so, tell her she's coming, or Ino, Temari and I will drag her out of the Hyūga compound," Sakura stated and Ino grinned in triumph. This was going to be so much fun! She was so excited for this moment, she could almost taste the tranquility of this spa weekend. No doubt Temari would love it too, Ino was going to run it by her in a bit. Still, Sakura's statement about Tenten concerned her.

"I heard about Tenten," she admitted. Hearing the nursing staff at the hospital bitch about Guy and Lee sneaking out of their rehab to go to the Hyūga compound to visit Tenten. "How is she holding up?"

"She's alright," Hinata shrugged uncertainly.

"Tell her a baby is hope," Ino said firmly remembering Kurenei's pregnancy with Mirai after Asuma had died. Though Shikamaru had been far more involved with Kurenei's pregnancy than any of the members of Team 10 and Team 8, she remembered how hurt Kurenei had been afterwards.

"Alright," she nodded.

"Good, and Neji wouldn't want her to more around for forever," Ino pointed out promptly. "Is lee visiting her still?"

"Uh-huh, four times a week, Tsunade yelled at him and Guy for walking on their very broken legs." Hinata assured her and Ino smiled knowing things hadn't changed since she had last gone to the hospital. "She's scared about that tear."

"I'll come check her over if that will make her feel better about this, but she can't stay in bed the entire pregnancy. That's not healthy for her or the baby," Sakura stated flatly.

"What are you after?" Ino demanded when she finally noticed how distracted her pink friend was at this shop. She saw Sakura looking over a cloak and a bag.

"A birthday present for Sasuke," Sakura said then. It clicked in Ino's mind then what Naruto and Sai had talked about yesterday and why Sai was defying her wishes at this moment with his hand and painting. She had noticed that.

"Just get him both, and let the pieces fall where they go," she suggested and saw the exasperation of her best friend then.

"I'm a little tight at the moment, Ino, I'm debating."

"Here," Hinata said suddenly.

"No, no! I couldn't!" Sakura quickly denied Hinata and Ino didn't tell Hinata that it was a matter of Sakura's pride that she do this on her own. After all, her stubborn friend did everything on her own, but this was exasperating.

"But…!"

"Hinata, it's good, we're friends, but I'll get him a gift that he'll need with my own money, save yours," Sakura said firmly.

"Don't be stubborn, Forehead," Ino argued. There wasn't a need to do everything on your own if you didn't have to, she thought irritably. But then, this was Haruno Sakura, stubbornest girl alive.

"I'm not being stubborn, I'm being firm. And besides," Sakura sighed. "It's my gift.

"Alright," Ino surrendered. She knew there'd be no arguing with Sakura about this. She knew it, and so she wasn't going to brow beat her best friend about this matter. "So, next week!?"

"Will be ready," Sakura assured her with a smile and she grinned as she darted off.

There was still a mountain of paperwork to finish filling out for Morino and she intended to be the best apprentice he ever had. She would make her father proud, even if he wasn't here to tell her himself that he was proud of her. Ino jogged home and decided that before the girl's weekend she was going to need to stop by the rebuilding flower shop and look it over. She was certain it was turning out wonderfully, but she still wanted to see it herself.

She smiled happily seeing Sai's shoes in her home.

It made her ridiculously happy for some reason as she walked to the kitchen table.

* * *

Sai had been shocked when Naruto had stopped by the previous night and told him that there was to be a party for the traitor's birthday. Also, he had to have a gift for the traitor because it was a birthday party. Sai had smiled and said certainly before thinking about what to give the traitor.

Things Sakura had said had inspired him that night when he had defied Beautiful's ultimatums and sliced off all the bandages on his right hand and picked up a brush. An old photo formed in his head as he guessed to the proportions. He had never been involved with surveilling the Uchiha clan, but when he had been sent to Orochimaru's he had studied thousands of photos of the Uchiha clan and Sasuke to understand the rogue Uchiha.

One image had always stood out to him and he figured that it would be a nice gift for the traitor to remember 'something good'. Sakura had said Sasuke had loved his family very deeply.

And Sai remembered loving his brother and how Shin's second death had really ripped him apart. He had heard the rumors about what had happened with Uchiha Itachi and his resurrection, and Sasuke's meeting up with him. Losing his brother probably hurt, if Sai's own pain was anything to go on, and so he would paint that.

He had spent the entire night working on it, until his hand throbbed and he could barely move his fingers. However, when he looked at the piece of art he had created he felt… satisfaction again as he set it safely aside to dry.

Ino had fussed about his hand when she saw it while she cooked them breakfast, and no assurances from him reassured her that he felt fine. Which was why he endured an appointment of Tsunade's probing his hand.

Tsunade was actually pleased with his hand and when he told her he had painted all night. Sai was secretly proud of himself but he wasn't saying anything about that as he did the painful stretches Tsunade wanted and endured the dull throb of his hand. Kami did it ever hurt. But he endured it until his split skin was gingerly wrapped again and his throbbing hand was numbed with some of Tsunade's healing. He was rather pleased with himself, he had painted a painting he was actually proud of.

And with that in mind he made it the rest of the way through his day with Ino and her training. There was also the mountain of her paperwork from Morino, which was a bother.

Which brought him to now as he walked to Ugly's apartment with his gift for the traitor in hand. It was strange, he was not even friends with the traitor and yet he felt… apprehensive about this. He walked up to Ugly's door and knocked.

"It's open," she shouted. Sai carefully opened it to see her at the stove. He winced a bit at seeing her throw things in a pot sort of randomly. Sakura was by no means a bad cook, but she most certainly was not the best cook.

"Hello Ugly," he smiled in greeting, she turned and grinned back at him.

"Hey Sai! Just take a seat at the table, Naruto was swinging by my parent's bakery for the cake, and Sasuke should be here any minute," Sakura said.

"Isn't it rude to be late to one's party?" Sai asked her.

"Well, he doesn't know about the party, Sai," Sakura informed him. he blinked.

"Is this a surprise party?"

"Kind of, it's really more of a get together between friends," she admitted as she continued working at the stove. He just nodded and sat at her table then.

"What did you get the traitor?"

"Things he'll need when he leaves," Sakura answered then as she put the stove on a low flame and came over to sit with him.

"That is nice," he decided. Especially since he knew Sakura didn't want the traitor to leave.

"I thought so," she agreed and they enjoyed chatting for a bit. Honestly he had missed chatting with Sakura like this, just them with no rush as she made him smile and she giggled at his recounting training with Ino. It felt good to have his friend for a moment again when Naruto came barging in with the cake then.

"Sakura! I got the cake!" he shouted.

"You do know this is a one-bedroom apartment Naruto with nowhere for us to hide so there is no need to shout," Sakura chided.

"Sorry," Naruto grinned sheepishly as Sakura took the cake from Naruto.

"Is the cake good?" Sai whispered to Naruto when Sakura was in the kitchenette.

"Yeah, her parents are the best bakers in town," Naruto whispered back. "She did not inherate their cooking talents though."

"I see," Sai nodded.

"You two do know I can hear you, right?" Sakura was glowering at them both and he winced as he grinned sheepishly.

"Don't cry about it, you suck at cooking Sakura!" Naruto huffed out.

Sai swore that if it were possible there was a dangerous looming, shadowy force over Sakura then as her green eyes all but glowed dangerously at the object of her rage. Sai scooted out of the way so, he too, did not get hit.

"Naruto," she growled warningly.

"I'm stating fact," Naruto pointed out.

"Naruto!"

"Even the teme would agree with me," Naruto stated flatly.

"That's it!" Sakura snapped and Sai wisely moved to the couch then as Sakura lunged for Naruto. Naruto yelped but it was all for show Sai guessed. He heard Kakashi's voice then as did the other two who stopped their roughhousing then.

Sakura darted over to the light and shut it off. Sai tripped over a chair trying to get to the table when the lights had vanished.

"Shush!"

"You shush!" he retorted to dickless and he heard Sakura snigger from somewhere in the dark.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	18. Part 1: Chapter 18

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 18**

Being called to the bank was not something he was particularly thrilled about. Sai had never been fond of banks or their management or how they operated. He had never really paid attention to his own balance, and he had only ever really been concerned about having enough money for his rent, food, and his supplies. However, Root had usually paid for his art supplies where his missions were concerned and he had never really found sketchbooks to cost a lot of money. However, paints, brushes, and canvises were all costly items which Root hadn't paid for so he had paid for them.

"Sai?" a voice roused him out of his thoughts as he stood in line. Looking around he looked over his shoulder to see Sakura there.

"Ugly? What are you doing here?" he asked as she walked up him.

"I received a notice, you?" she asked and the thought about it as he pulled out the envelope he had received in the mail this morning.

"I received my war pay," he answered and handed it over to Sakura. He trusted Ugly with his life so he didn't mind handing the money over to her. Her eyes widened as she read the amount and he had to agree he had been rathered shocked by the amount as well.

"Are you kidding me!?" she asked him in a soft voice as they moved in line.

"No, it is a surprising amount," he agreed as they looked up at the counter. He didn't like the bank, and he really found the lines to be cumbersome as they moved a bit more forward.

"Sai, you could buy four houses with that, are you certain it's not compensations for your apartment?" she asked as she looked at his paper. Sai thought about that for a moment but he remembered the dingy apartment he had lived in and shook his head.

"Certain, my apartment was…" he trailed off uncertain of what he was supposed to say as he looked to her for an answer she sighed.

"Cheap," she answered. He nodded as he took his paper from her then and they continued moving forward.

"How are your parents?" he asked, though he didn't really know the Haruno family he knew they adored their daughter and Sakura; while easily embarrassed and annoyed by her parents; adored them in turn.

"Oh, they're good, working hard on rebuilding their bakery. Dad's finally talked mom into the kitchen expansion he's been dreaming about for years," she said with a smile. He smiled too because she seemed happy about this. "How are thinks with you and Ino?"

There was a strange sensation in his gut at that question which he ignored.

"Alright, she seems obsessed with my hand though," he said seriously. They both looked at his bandaged hand, truthfully, after nearly four months with it like this he was actually shocked that he could move it as he could. There was hope, and after having painted Sasuke his family portrait Sai was reluctantly optimistic about regaining use of his hand.

"I hear it's healing well," Sakura said rousing him from his thoughts.

"It is satisfactory," he decided because he was cautious about being optimistic. Not everyone could be as annoyingly positive as dickless was. "I could hold a paint brush the other day," he admitted and smiled in spite of himself.

"Yeah, Sasuke's birthday give from you was very beautiful by the way, thank you," she said and he blinked as he stared at his bandaged hand.

"It felt… good, to paint again. And you do not need to thank me, you did not receive the gift," he pointed out as he was confused again by her.

"Sai, I'm thanking you for being kind to him when I know you are not particularly fond of him." that had him looking at her with sharp eyes as he saw a real smile on her lips, he relaxed a little then.

"I believe dickless said that we all need second chances," he replied. She chuckled.

"It'd be nice if everyone felt that way. How goes Ino's training?"

"She's improving, she keeps pushing herself," he admitted.

"Alright," Sakura nodded tand they reached open tellers then. Finally! He was going to be out of here! "Hey, when we're done here, do you want to go grab a bite to eat?"

"Certainly, it will be nice to catch up with a friend," he replied genuinely and she smiled as they parted ways. He went to his teller and turned in his check. Thinking to check his balance he was stunned when he saw the amount.

"What is this?" he asked the teller then as he pointed to the obscene amount of money in his account that was not the check he had just turned in.

"An anonymous benefactor," the teller answered. He stiffened thinking this was Root again but dismissed the idea because Root was being dismantled by the Sixth Hokage from what Ino had said.

"Thank you," he said politely and withdrew some cash, too the new card he'd been issued for his account and waited for Sakura at the entrance of the bank. He saw her walking towards him looking rather pale and he frowned as he felt concerned for his friend then.

"Are you alright Ugly?" he asked her and she blinked at him.

"Let's get a drink while we go to lunch," she smiled broadly then and he smiled a bit as they walked out of the newly built bank and headed down the sreet.

"Alright," he replied. He did not mind drinking with a friend, he had read that it was a good sign of comradery between people. And he had never really gone drinking with anyone before as Ugly started a lively chatter with him and he relaxed enjoying it as they walked towards a grill for lunch. He found himself relaxing with Sakura and enjoying his day, though he was still troubled by an anonymous benefactor inflating his account.

* * *

Ino was startled that afternoon when she received a notice from Ibiki's secretary Sato Mariko to come to the Intelligence building. Scribbling a note for Sai that she'd be back tonight she hurried towards Intelligence. Her heart was ramming in her ribs with her nerves but she steeled herself.

She was the daughter of Yamanaka Inoichi.

She was Yamanak Ino.

And she was going to do this.

With that in mind she surged through the doors. People scrambled out her way as she was directed towards the Interrogation Room that Morino Ibiki was at and she walked towards him without faltering. She was going to do this, and she was going to be the best at it. With that in her mind she walked into the elevator and hit the button which took her to the floor Morino was on below. The silence was grating her nerves but she didn't mind it at the same time.

The ding of the elevator captured her attention and she walked out of the elevator. Flaring her chakra she deftly followed the way towards where Ibiki was and came to his office. She rapped the door lightly before sliding it open and walking into the room.

"Ah, Ino," Ibiki smiled at her and she smiled in return.

"You summoned me," she said lightly.

"Yes, congratulations, you're my apprientice now," he smiled and she blinked twice at him and then smiled broadly.

"Yes!" she would've jumped in delight but she wasn't about to do that when she had just been admitted into the Torture & Interogation Unit.

"You'll need this," he said and tossed her one of those fine, black leather coats which defined who they were and she stared at it for a long moment. There had been a time when she had been a child when she would steal her father's coat and parade around the house in it. Smiling she slid her own on, and it fit her perfectly.

"Thank you Ibiki," she smiled.

"You're welcome, princess," he nodded and stood up.

"I don't like being called princess," she informed him as they walked out of the room.

"It's a good nickname for you though, you look like one, you act like one, and it will deceive your targets into thinking that you're nothing for them to fear," he said and she nodded then as she understood this now.

"Alright," she decided.

"Now come on, princess, we're going to get work now." He said.

"Yes sir, what are we doing?" she asked.

"This asshole, a terrorist, his name is Hibeki Yoshiro, on the list of MIA in the war, a deserter, and a recent terrorist brought in curtesy of your friend Akimichi Chōji, he has information and we need it. Another friend of yours' is out in the field right now, Nara Shikamaru with a diplomatic envoy of genin, chūnin, and jonin and they are under attack. These assholes are attacking civilians and shinobi alike," he said and she started looking over the file he had given her to gage her target.

"What do you need me to find?" she asked him then.

"Find out the who, where, and when of their attacks and then you'll relay the information in the field for Nara who will go about capturing these cowards," Ibiki said.

"Alright," she nodded and they came to a steel door then. She shut her file then, took a deep breath to ready herself then looked at Ibiki who was waiting expectantly for her before she nodded. The doorknob dropped and the locks clanged menacingly as the door screamed open to echo in the concrete room. A florescent light flickered overhead and she could hear the rats and a few maddening drops of water. Ibiki walked in after her and she slipped her hands into her pockets as she looked at the man.

"I'm Not Telling YOU Anything!" the skinny rat looking man bellowed.

"That's alright," she admitted as she walked forward and took the chair opposite him, and smiled sweetly as she looked into the man's beady eyes then. "Can you at least tell me why you are doing this?" she asked sweetly.

"Uchiha Madara will rise again and he will create true everlasting peace! Long live Uchiha Madara!" Yoshiro started shouting and she nodded then looked to Ibiki who nodded to her. Turning her attention onto Yoshiro she grabbed his oily face with her hands, placed the tips of her fingers on his temples and just like when she practiced with Sai she surged her consciousness into Yoshiro's mind and began digging.

It felt like an eternity of sorting through this rat's disgusting, guttered mind and finally pulled the information she needed. Turning around her soul marched purposely through his mind as she pulled his memories to crash in on him and created a few delusions of her own as she walked out.

Gasping her eyes flew open as Hibeki Yoshiro howled in agony and started convulsing, standing up she walked over to Morino Ibiki then.

"I've got their plans," she breathed.

"You did well kid, it would have taken Inoichi an hour to get the information," Ibiki informed her as they left Hibeki Yoshiro behind. A bitter sweet pride filled her as she regretted the screams behind her as she walked away. She was going to do this, she would cry about purposely hurting him later.

"Here, it was your father's," Ibiki said when they walked into a dusty bunker and she recognized the machine. Smiling a bit she knelt down and pulled it over her head as she flared her chakra. Ibiki turned it on and she let her mind free to search for Chōji and Shikamaru. Two minds she knew like the back of her own hand and she found them with ease.

Establishing the connection was simple enough and she wanted to keep it open as she invaded their minds then and savored the familiarity of them before she got to business.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	19. Part 1: Chapter 19

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 19**

"See you later Sai!" she shouted as she hurried out the door and ran for the gates. She had been looking forward to this since she had planned it. And she was not missing it for the world. Jogging from the Yamanaka compound she headed past the Hyūga compound and ran into Hinata and Tenten. Tenten was protesting and Ino was not allowing the older girl to escape.

"Hey Hinata! Hey Tenten!" she beamed as she jogged up to them.

"Ino!" Hinata gasped in shock and Ino looped her arms with both of them as she dragged them along before Tenten talked Hinata out of going. It would defeat the purpose if Tenten didn't come with them.

"Ino!" Tenten protested.

"Nope, you are coming Tenten, this is exactly what we all need!" Ino stated firmly as she grinned at the sight of Temari and Sakura chatting.

"Are you certain that this is a good idea!?" Tenten asked as they came up to Sakura and Temari.

"Positive," was everyone deadpanned before Tenten and they started off for the hot springs Ino had made the reservations at.

"So… Temari! Any juicy details on a love life we can exploit and live vicariously through?" Ino asked as they left the village. She internally giggled hysterically at the befuddled look on the sandy blonde's face.

"Uh…? No?" Temari said uncertainly.

"What!? Are you not certain? Why are you saying it like a question!?" Ino knew she was badgering Temari but it was so much fun because the blonde looked so confounded and the always confident Temari never looked uncertain. No matter what! This was going to be fun for Ino.

"Because I'm not entirely certain what you're after," the blonde countered and Ino sighed. If she wanted to she could cheat and pry into Temari's mind, but she didn't because that didn't seem to be a great idea for trying to make a friend of the young woman Shikamaru had befriended.

"Alright," Ino sighed. Different, straightforward tactics were going to be needed to divuldge the answers she wanted! "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Do you like someone?"

"No."

"Do you have a crush on someone?"

"I don't think so."

This piqued her interest as she smiled deviously.

"Oh, Kami," she dramatically fluttered her eyes as she looked heavenward to annoy Temari a little. "You're making this difficult. Do you like Shikamaru?"

"Yes." The answer had her doing a happy dance because if she set up Shikamaru with a girl he'd stop trying to be a big brother in her life about her choices. "He is perhaps one of my dearest friends."

Damn it.

"I can work with that!" she declared. She would do whatever she needed to do to get Shikamaru off her case and for her to reestablish their link.

"Uh…?" Temari looked befuddled and confounded.

"Just let her go," Sakura intervened and Ino grinned seeing a friendship forming between the two. This was probably going to be the best thing for them in a long time and they were going to all be great friends. "When she's like this, there is no stopping her."

"Would you date Shikamaru!?" she demanded as she stepped in on Temari. The older woman blushed and vehnemently shook her head as she was thrown off balance.

Ino counted this as the point she needed.

"What!? No! he's my little brother's age!" Temari protested and Ino internally did a happy dance, even she did not need to be telepathic to plainly see that Temari liked Shikamaru that way, and her mind went into over drive.

Ever since she had reached her mind out to telepathically fill in Shikamaru and Chōji about the terrorists she had been wanting to reestablish their link. It was funny, she hadn't really noticed how much she had missed them until she had reached out to touch them. However, she wasn't going to open their link again until she had a plan in place to get them to leave her decision to be in Intelligence alone. Shikamaru would need a distraction, and Chōji would just comply with whatever point of view Shikamaru had. And looking at the blonde chatting with her pink friend she decided that Temari was going to be the perfect distraction for Shikamaru.

Ever since they had been thirteen she had been relatively certain that Shikamaru had had a crush on Temari. He failed to notice other women in general, and Ino had pitied Shiho for this. But even Ino knew Temari was the only girl to have ever captured her friend's attention in any capacity, so Shiho had never stood a chance when one saw him with Temari.

And now that Ino had confirmed that Temari liked him back she was going to work on getting them together so Shikamaru would leave her decisions alone. It was also a bonus that she found herself like Temari, and Temari clearly got a long with her best friend. That was all she could happily think about as she almost bounced with her glee like she had as a little girl.

The hours passed quickly as they all chatted, even Tenten smiled as they walked to the hot spring and Ino found herself genuinely happy around all these girls and she was going to enjoy this. The inn came into sight and she grinned as she grabbed Tenten and Hinata.

"Yes! We're here! Come on!" Ino shouted happily as she pulled the women along with her.

"Someone is excited," she heard Temari chime in.

"Definitely, Ino loves the spa almost as much as shopping," Sakura responded and she grinned knowing that was almost the truth as they made it into the lobby. She checked them in and turned to the group then.

"Alright, we drop our bags off and off to the first of many glorious massages!" she declared and she watched them all chuckle as they all made their way to their rooms. She was going to thoroughly enjoy her time here.

* * *

Sai was not too terribly shocked when he saw Naruto grinning happily at the Yamanaka compound but he was surprised at what the blonde wanted.

"Guys' night?" he questioned then.

"Yeah! I talked to Kakashi about it and we'll take Sasuke out, it will be a lot of fun!" Naruto beamed. Sai just sighed as they sat there in silence and he thought it over. It wasn't that he didn't like this idea of a guys' night out, he would like to be amongst his comrades again. However, there was another part of this which was why he was a bit uneasy as he sat there.

The idea of a night of drinking to him sounded a little…

Well, it sounded a little dangerous to him. Sai didn't want to go drinking if there was likely to be danger but at the same time he did wish to be amongst his comrades. But drinking did not seem to be the best of activities to be doing for whatever reason. Sai could not tell someone why this was, just that he did not think that a night of drinking was going to be the best of things to do at night.

"Fine," he surrendered.

"Great! We're going to have so much fun!" Naruto grinned.

"Are you certain drinking is a good idea though?" Sai inquired. He didn't know how to approach the topic of maybe having a different activity with their comrades. Drinking just didn't sound like it was a good idea.

"Yeah! It will be a lot of fun and we haven't been drinking for a long while." Naruto informed him and he sighed as he rubbed his temple then.

"Naruto, do you think drinking, with the traitor is a good idea?" Sai said seriously. He remembered what it been like to the few Root members he had seen who were like Sasuke. The thing in them that was twisted, mangled and destroyed, that darkness. Sai had seen what drinking could do to those men and he knew that the drink was something very dangerously powerful to people. It didn't drown their sorrows like the thought it would. And Sai didn't know if it were a smart idea to put alcohol into that man.

"What could go wrong, it's just drinks?" Naruto shrugged.

Sai frowned at him. There was never anything good that came from drinks when Naruto said that. he knew this and he feared what was to come of this if Naruto insisted upon drinks.

"Naruto, be very careful about this. Sasuke is not alright," Sai said.

"Sasuke's fine," Naruto dismissed. Sai frowned as he looked at his eager friend and decided that Naruto, despite every hardship he had suffered in his life, truly did not know the pain that the traitor appeared to be in. Sai only knew because he had seen it, he had no experience with that pain, but it was a dangerous thing in Sasuke's head and it was likely to come out with the drink.

"Naruto, I will enjoy guys' night, however, I must warn you that drinking might not be the wisest of activities," Sai said again. He knew Naruto would not heed his warning but he had to try to warn them for when this went south.

Also, he feared what Sakura would do to his head if something about this when askew. And he knew that more than likely something was going to go askew. However, he was not going to let his best friend take this venture alone. Sai was not such a fool as to think that Naruto undertaking this alone was a good idea.

"It's about fun Sai!" Naruto argued. Sai said nothing as he rubbed his brow and just decided to go along with whatever it was that Naruto was planning. If anything he was going to need to be there so the knucklehead didn't have his head caved in by Sakura when all of this was said and done.

"When are we going drinking?" he asked.

"Great! And tomorrow night!" Naruto grinned. Sai nodded and Naruto left him.

Once he was alone in the Yamanaka compound he looked around and then he looked at his unbandage hand. It was only unbandage at this moment because Sakura wanted his wound to breath. It was the only reason that he was staring at the red marks marring his paper pale skin.

Gritting his teeth, he picked up a brush and some paper. He wanted to paint, the colors of platinum, sky blue, gold and purple. He didn't understand why these colors swirled around his mind and he wondered why Ino's colors were plaguing his mind. Sai tried not think too hard about it all as he painted. The curves of the lines, and the angles, they all enraptured him as he painted.

Eventually he finished what he was painting and looked at it now. Blinking he recognized what the colors that he had been obsessing about formed and he stared at it for a long, silent moment. When he could he was going to have a serious talk with Ugly about whatever the hell was going on with him.

Sighing he gently lay the painting Ino would never see; or anyone else for that matter; out to dry before he stretched the stiff skin of his hand and looked at it as he watched the scars.

Some part of him was very pleased to even be able to move his hand, another part of him was terrified that he was going to lose his hand after having finally gotten it back. He hissed when the healing skin split painfully and walked over to the sink to run hot water over it.

He watched as the water turned red and he sighed as he gently massaged his hand. Red, black, white, they were his colors, and they clashed horribly with the colors which were plaguing his thoughts at the moment.

Dismissing the worry he had about the colors in his mind he wrapped his hand and decided to turn in early.

It was so quiet without Beautiful here.

* * *

 **Another reminder here, all of the Until the Day I... Stories are slow to start! There are no instant couples in these stories! They are being built up to though so just be patient with me!**

 **Besides I'm relatively certain that these are labeled Drama and not Romance.**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	20. Part 1: Chapter 20

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 20**

Ino stumbled out of her room with a yawn and plopped herself down at the communal breakfast. Filling up her plate she yawned again and noticed Temari and Sakura chatting together. That was good, in her mind, she felt they could both use friends and they would be good friends. Eating her meal she savored it even as she poured herself a cup of strong tea. Tenten was devouring within reach and sight and it was a bit nerve wracking as she ate what she could before Tenten devoured it.

"What about you Ino?" a voice asked slyly and she snapped to attention as she looked up from the pudding then at Temari.

"Huh?" she managed with a full mouth.

"Well, yesterday you were demanding to know about my love life, which doesn't exist, so now I'm asking about yours'," Temari said with a smile which made Ino think of a cat eating the canary. Swallowing her mouth full she was quick to answer. She was quick to think up a complaciant answer for Temari, even as she felt her cheeks heat up.

"Uh… No! nope! Nuh-uh! I'm going to focus on my apprenticeship!" she said quickly. For whatever reason she was picturing inky black in her mind at that was baffling as she smiled nervously. Part of what she had said was true, she was going to focus on her apprenticeship with Ibiki so she could be the best of the best, that was her goal at the moment, however she also had a plan on the side of getting Shikamaru a girlfriend. But Temari didn't need to know that she was going to be trying to hook her up with Shikamaru. That would be unethical to the matchmaker.

"Really?" Temari asked with her eyes narrowing and Ino winced a bit.

"Well, if a guy asks, and he's decent to look at and semi intelligent then I'm not about to say no," she laughed nervously. She knew how shallow that sounded but she could always pretend to be her flippant self, and make everything skin deep. Now was a damn good time to get Temari off her tail at the moment as she turned her attentions on the only other avalible woman at the table.

It was pointless to ask Sakura about her love life because she didn't have one, and she had a feeling that after losing Neji Tenten wasn't going to be seeing anyone. Which left Hinata to use as a distraction. Ino would feel guilty about this later.

"And what about you Hinata!?" Ino purred out. The Hyūga was startled as she stared back with large pearl eyes.

"Me!?" she stammered.

"Yes you," she assured the black haired girl and she saw the way Hinata blushed. Was there something there that she was missing or was it just something she had overlooked over the years? No matter, it got everyone off her scent as she planned on how to hook Temari and Shikamaru up.

* * *

Sai walked through the village towards his old apartment. He had received a notice that it was rebuilt, and he was free to have his old room back. Sai was going to accept it, mostly because despite being cheap as Sakura had put it, it was a good studio. Besides, it wasn't like he was home often enough to actually care about where he lived.

Thinking this he looked up when he reached the newly rebuilt apartment building and looked at the notice in his good hand. Sighing he decided to check it out. rummaging through his pockets he found his key again and walked up the once rickety stairs. The notice had said all the old keys would work again, and he was counting on that as he reached his door on the sixth floor.

His apartment wasn't in a 'good part' of the village, but he knew many other Root members resided over here leaving it rather bleak and impersonal. Not that he particularly minded as he unlocked his door and walked in. It was all designed exactly as it had been, he noticed. The view had changed a little, but that was alright as he walked around it. There was a little platformed corner for his bed, the small kitchenette was still located by the door. Opening the two other doors of the flat he noted that the closet and the bathroom had switched places but that was alright as he shut it and looked around the small living area.

It was rather drab and monotone, but that was the normal for Root members.

Sai walked over to the three box windows which lined his wall and looked out at the part and he noted that they were rebuilding the park on the hill. That was good, he wouldn't be forced to look at some other drab building, it was part of the reason he had always rented this place. Mostly so when he was in the village he wasn't surrounded by darkness and could see some of the life Danzo had always insisted that they protected.

Looking up he sighed, this was as good as it was likely to get, he'd need to buy a new work bench, esile, supplies, a bed, a few cookery things, and towels, not to mention he'd need a few other clothes because his were all tattered and old from before the war. It wasn't all that bad, he decided as he walked out of it and walked to the super to tell him that he'd resume his lease here.

Now he was going to have to tell Ino when she returned that he was moving back to his place. It was for the best, her flower shop was almost rebuilt and she would move back there soon enough.

There was a dull, aching, pain in his chest but he ignored it as he walked up to the super and started talking about his rent and utilities again. This was where he belonged, he decided.

* * *

After a relaxing morning of being pampered Ino walked outside to find Sakura and Temari again talking like they were conspiring something and Ino had a feeling it had to do with alcohol. She would let them have their fun, for she was certain that after watching Sasuke, Sakura was going to need some fun. Still, she had her own plans as she smiled and walked over to them. Tenten and Hinata were currently receiving massages so she didn't have to worry about those two interrupting her conversation these two.

"Hey Temari!" she grinned.

"Hey Ino," Temari lazily replied. Ino took the seat on Temari's open side then and smiled in delight at having her plans formulating.

"Temari, if I asked a favor of you, would you do it?" she asked then. The sandy haired woman lazily opened her eye then.

"That would entirely depend upon what you want," Temari replied and Ino knew that she had the older woman then. This was all going to work how she wanted because of the simple trait she knew Temari to possess, curiosity.

"Nothing too big," she admitted as she looked at her new friend and smiled sweetly. "I just want to know if you would do a favor for me."

"Ino," Temari's voice was sharp again. "I don't know what you're asking but the answer is no."

"Please!" Ino pouted, her pouting always got her whatever she wanted with anyone. No one liked seeing the Yamanaka princess in tears. "I'll never ask anything of you ever again! Just this teeny, tiny favor!" she earnestly promised. All she wanted was for Temari to date Shikamaru, she knew they would be a good thing together, and with Shikamaru occupied he wouldn't rip apart her decision to being in Intelligence.

"Whatever she wants she's just going to badger you until you say yes," her best friend wisely informed their new friend. Ino knew this was true but she tried to feign innocence at Sakura's comment.

"Yes, but I'm afraid that if I say yes that I'm going to be doing something dastardly and I'm not certain I want to do something dastardly," Temari replied. Ino frown, about the only one who would think all this to be dastardly was Shikamaru and what he didn't know at this moment couldn't kill him.

"No! it's a harmless favor, I promise!" she quickly assured Temari, besides, it wasn't like she was arranging for Temari and Shikamaru to get married. It was just a temporary distraction for Shikamaru so he wouldn't badger her to get out of her apprenticeship.

"Just what do you want?" Temari asked warily.

"I just want a favor," she replied. Until she had the favor secured she wasn't going to be telling Temari what said favor was.

"Uh-huh," was the skeptical replie.

"Just say yes!" she ordered. "And if you regret it later, you can spar with Sakura!"

"Don't drag me into this!' Sakura yelped.

"The answer is still: depends on what you want." Temari replied, Ino groaned.

* * *

Sai walked to Kakashi for the guys' night out, he wasn't certain that this was a good idea but he wasn't going to ruin the night by annoying everyone with his opinion. But for Ugly's sake he was going to keep a close eye on the traitor so that nothing bad happened. That was a silent promise he made to Ugly as he reached Kakashi's apartment and knocked.

"Hello Sai," Kakashi said when he opened the door.

"Hello Kakashi, I am prepared for guys' night out," he said then as he was allowed into the apartment. He saw the traitor reading at the table and decided that this night couldn't be all that bad as he took a seat.

"Alright, any idea what Naruto planned?" Kakashi asked him.

"Naruto said that you were alright with us going out for a night of drinking," Sai replied honestly. He carefully watched his Captain and Sasuke then. There was a flash of something in Kakashi's eye which told him that Naruto hadn't talked tohim about exactly what his guys' night plans were. which had Sai warily assessing the Uchiha.

The Uchiha said nothing as he sat there reading, and said decided that the Uchiha was probably calm enough to handle a guys' night out. what was the worst that could come of it after all?

"Hey guys! Let's go!" Naruto announced as he walked right in without fear or a problem.

"Naruto, just what are we doing?" Kakashi asked coldly.

"nothing much, but I busted Yamato out and he's waiting for us, come on!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

"I forgot how exuberant he was," Sasuke grumbled and Sai just decided to go with it tonight as they all left Kakashi's place. He noted that the Uchiha seemed uneasy about all of this and hung close to the back of the group.

"Sai, there's something I've been meaning to ask you about Root," Kakashi said.

"Oh?" he lifted his brows in surprise. He was relatively certain that Ino had said that when she had snooped in Kakashi's mind that Root was being disbanded and he wouldn't have to back to working for them.

"Yes, how would you feel about helping integrate them into society," Kakashi said. "They're all useful, and their skills would be apprieciated in the ANBU division, but of the few I have interacted with it appears that they need a leader who understands the civilian world as well as the shinobi one."

"And you are asking me to do this?"

"Yes, I think your skills at the head of the Root shinobi would prove valuable, also, you'd directly report to me," Kakashi informed him and Sai sighed.

"Kakashi, I do not know if that is wise. Root members are trained for the worst missions on long term scales," Sai explained.

"Hmm, I might have an interesting solution for that," Kakashi admitted and Sai nodded. He didn't know what his Captain and Hokage was thinking as they entered the bar.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	21. Part 1: Chapter 21

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 21**

Ino had decided that she was going to use the night of drinking as a way to get Temari to agree t going on the date with Shikamaru. Which was why she was eager for tonight's game as she looked around for Tenten and Hinata so they could start. She found them and grinned in delight as she darted over to them.

"Hey guys! Come on! We're going to have fun all of us tonight!" she shouted as she jogged over to them. Both girl blinked at her.

"What are we doing?" Tenten asked suspiciously.

"We're drinking, you're drinking a tea Sakura made you that's supposed to be full of good vitamins and proteins for the baby," Ino announced as she grabbed both of their hands and tugged them up and along with her. dragging them to the suit she grinned when they entered and Temari looked up.

"We're playing 'Have You Ever…'," Temari announced and Ino sighed as Sakura looked ready to giggle.

"No, no, Temari, it's I have never, not have you ever," Ino corrected as she took a seat.

"So long as we drink I don't care," the blonde countered blandly. Sakura chuckled, and Ino fought back the giggles as they sat there.

"How about we have Sakura start!" Ino declared.

"Alright," her pink friend shrugged. "Now, the rules are simple, instead of lowering fingers people who have done the implied never done event take a shot, everyone has three 'I have never; and then we go around the circle, and on we go, round and round until we have our first pass out or run out of booze!"

They all nodded and Ino grinned as she picked up her drink then.

"I have never kissed a girl," Sakura said, Ino scowled as she tossed back the shot and poured another drink.

"Sexual experimentation," she grinned at the confused look from Temari.

"A dare from Neji," Tenten chuckled and she did a double take of the brunette then.

"I have never walked in public without my clothes," Sakura said and Ino frowned at her friend catching onto the game, they had ganged up to get her drunk. Well, that was fine with her, but she had plenty of stuff on Sakura too!

The next hours were fun, and she was giggling hysterically before too long as she dragged Hinata along to dance to the music. She was savoring the bubbly buzz in her brain as she swung her hips in time with the music and moved her arms over her head and grinned.

A bleary thought hit her which had her bouncing over to a drunk Temari.

"Temari! Temari! Temari! Will you do that favor for me!?" she giggled hysterically as she skidded into the table, that was fun.

"Swure," Temari giggled with a hiccup.

"Gweat! You'rwa taking Shikamura, I mean, Shikameru, no Shikamaru! On a date!" she declared as she finally managed the name and grinned in triumph.

"Sounds," hic! "Good to me! He's got a cute butt!" Temari hiccupped and she giggled hysterically in triumph.

"Good, remembwer she agwreed Tenten!" Ino demanded as she yawned.

* * *

"Hey Captain Yamato!" Naruto bellowed when they entered the bar. Sai looked over to the ANBU captain and nodded in greeting as he took a seat. He was quick to order his preferred drink and enjoy chatting with Yamato when everything was shot to hell.

"Come on Sasuke! Get a drink!" Naruto demanded eagerly. Sai shook his head at Naruto but he didn't think dickless could see him as he vigorously shook his head to not push the traitor tonight.

"No." Sasuke snapped.

"Come on teme! It's a night out, a celebration that Team 7 is whole again! Well, everyone is here but Sakura…" Naruto said and pulled a face as he shook his head.

"I'm not drinking Naruto," Sasuke snapped. Sai had to commend the traitor for not bowing to Naruto's demands.

"Come on, it's fun! And nothing bad is going to happen! You're fine!" Naruto dismissed. Sai saw Sasuke flinch at that, and he shook his head at Naruto again he didn't know what would happen, but he did not think it was going to be good.

"Hey!" Naruto called to the passing waitress who cautiously approached the table then. He glared at the woman, and he saw Kakashi doing the same. "He'll have what I'm having!"

"Alright," she giggled nervously as she hurried away.

"Naruto I Am Not Drinking," Sasuke snarled. Sai sensed that there was trouble coming then as he wanted his equipment.

"Come on Sasuke! Just this once don't be an ass," Naruto huffed out.

"Naruto I said no." the Uchiha snapped and left. Sai tried to stop Naruto, but they all flinched when they didn't and it happened. Sai watched it all happen in slow motion as his friend grabbed Sasuke's sleeve, and the traitor spun around fast as lightning to slam a fist into Naruto's face sending dickless sprawling on the ground. Sai stared at the traitor and then Sasuke was gone.

"Ow," Naruto groaned. "That asshole! Why the hell did he hit me!?"

"You deserved that," Sai said flatly then and Naruto glared at him.

"I didn't do anything!" Naruto snapped.

"No Naruto, you wouldn't listen to your friend," Kakashi snapped and that silenced the entire murmurings in the bar. "He said no, and you pushed, you deserved everything that happened. Drinking might not be something good for his mind at this moment Naruto, think of that the next time you push someone."

Sai watched as dickless looked a bit ashamed then he too was gone and he sighed as he rubbed his temples. He didn't like the traitor, he had hurt Sakura a lot, however, he didn't want the man to be pushed like that when he was clearly very important to Sakura.

"If they come back we won't be needing that drink," Yamato said to the waitress when she came over.

"Oh, alright," she nodded and everything went back to normal as Kakashi and Yamato chatted. The entire bar tensed when Naruto returned with Sasuke and they sat at the table again. Sai knew then that they were back to being friends, which was a good sign in his mind as he slowly sipped his drink.

"Better?" Kakashi demanded of the Uchiha.

"Aa," Sasuke nodded and Sai took that moment to approach a very serious subject with the hopes of getting some needed answers since he hadn't had a chance to talk to Sakura about the matter. And there was simply no way in hell he was going to try to talk to dickless about it when he was almost certain that dickless was gay. However, this was important and he needed the answers.

"Kakashi, is it normal for women to never be quiet!?" he demanded.

"Yes," Sasuke and Kakashi answered simultaneously.

"Why?" Naruto asked him.

"Beautiful will never be quiet," he answered.

"Beautiful?" the traitor asked.

"Yamanaka Ino, he calls her Beautiful and Sakura Ugly," Kakashi elaborated. The Uchiha gave him a dirty look and Sai smiled in response.

"Nicknames build team bonds," he explained then. The Uchiha said nothing as he sipped the club soda before him.

"Yeah, and she totally adores the nickname, that's why she hits you every time you use it," Naruto grumbled. Sai frowned at him and didn't point out that Ugly no longer seemed to mind being called Ugly.

"Ugly at least does not balk over it, unlike you dickless," he said icily. Sasuke snorted and Naruto balked.

"What did you call me!? Why you bastard…!" Naruto started and Sai smiled.

"That's a better name than dobe," Sasuke suddenly admitted.

"Thank you traitor," Sai said and Sasuke nodded with a smirk as Naruto gaped at them both. Alright, so perhaps he could like the traitor, Sasuke didn't seem so bad now that they were relaxing.

"Why you teme! You know he just called you traitor!" Naruto bellowed.

"I am a traitor," Sasuke retorted and Sai kind of regretted the nickname then. "Besides, he a social retard."

"That is very rude traitor," Sai countered.

"No ruder than you calling him traitor," Yamato chuckled and they all laughed, Sai decided that the Uchiha might not be all back and that was alright with him as they all drank the night away. It turned out that after the initial fight between Sasuke and Naruto it was a good night.

Humming to himself he stumbled home, and grinned as he entered the Yamanaka compound. It felt like home as he stripped and fell onto his futon. Never had a place felt like home before the Yamanaka compound and he wondered why that was as he yawned and let sleep over take him.

Platinum, pastel blue, and dark purple all danced through his mind as he closed his eyes and hummed a tuneless tune he could quite remember and sighed. He didn't know why but he felt very at ease at this moment as he thought of those colors and let sleep drag him under.

* * *

Ino found the greasy food to cure her hang over before they left the resort and started home. She was rather pleased to know she had secured the favor from Temari. But she wasn't pleased to learn that she had stripped again when she was drunk but it didn't matter to her as she hurried up to Temaru then.

"Hey Temari!' she grinned as she bounced up to the older blonde.

"I still hate that I have somehow been suckered into a date by you with a guy, three years my junior!" Temari snapped at her, but she didn't falter. She wanted Shikamaru and Chōji back, but she couldn't have them in her life if they were only going to look down on her for wanting to be Intelligence.

"Ah, come on! I'm sure you two will have a lot of fun!" she grinned and tried to point out that Shikamaru and Temari always seemed to have fun whenever they were together. Even in the Chūnin Exam had looked fun. And she had only been a spector! However, she had never seen Shikamaru smile like that around anyone but Temari, and she didn't know how to put it but she had a feeling that Temari was something very special to her friend. Also, she happened to be the only girl Shikamaru had ever expressed any interest in, and she knew that made Temari special to Shikamaru in a way that probably wasn't ever going to be said.

"He's three years younger than me," Temari snapped at her and she rolled her eyes. Three years wasn't that big of a deal was it? She didn't see it as a problem either, Shikamaru was very mature for his age, even if he was as lazy as a sloth at times.

"Psht," she shook her head as she waved this off. "You two will have fun, besides, please do this," she pleaded.

"I said I'd do it, so I'll do it," Temari said sourly. "But I expect a detailed, thorough reasoning for me having to do this date!"

That wasn't too much for Temari to ask in Ino's mind, but still, she didn't want to explain her reasoning to Temari. No one truly understood the depths of the bonds of Ino-Shika-Chō and to try to explain it was pointless unless Temari married Shikamaru or something, which she doubted would happen. However, if Temari did marry Shikamaru then it would be shown to her, the depth of these bonds between them, until then though it wasn't going to need to be explained in full depth.

"Fine," Ino submitted as she rolled her eyes dramaticall.

For the rest of the trip she explained her reasoning to Temari who listened intently to everything she had to say. It was a different change of pace for her because instead of ranting, like she would with Sakura, she found herself explaining this to Temari very carefully.

The other blonde never ridiculed her as she listened.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	22. Part 1: Chapter 22

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 22**

They were a bit further out from the resort Temari sighed then.

"Alright princess, we're walking and you're going to start talking," Temari snapped. Ino giggled nervously and noted that everyone was far enough away from them that they weren't likely to overhear anything that Ino was going to have to say.

"About what?" she asked innocently, she noted the 'mom-look' Temari gave her as she lifted a brow threateningly at her. Again Ino found herself giggling nervously.

"About this date you're having me go on, why I'm going, and why it's so damn important. And don't think about evading me, telepathy or no I will get answers out of you; Yamanaka," she coldly stated and Ino sighed as she looked out at the road.

"The truth is I want a distraction for Shikamaru, so we can go back to being friends and he'll start leaving my decision to be in the T&I unit alone," she muttered. She really needed her friend back, she needed Shikamaru and Chōji in the back of her mind so she could stay sane, so she wouldn't break while working for Ibiki.

Oh, she had no doubt she was strong enough to handle it alone.

But… she wanted their support again, she needed them to catch her again. However this time she wouldn't be caught like when they did their missions, she didn't need to be shuffled off to the side, she just needed their support and care again.

"Is that it?" Temari asked ludicrously.

"Well, yeah," she admitted softly. "Also, he likes you."

"Shikamaru is a friend," Temari said with too much conviction which had Ino knowing her suspicions were right about Temari and Shikamaru. It was clear thought that it was the age gap between them which bothered Temari, however, Ino was certain Shikamaru had a thing for older women. He had never expressed interest in anyone in their age group or younger than him. But, she knew for a fact that he had had an insane crush on Kurenai before Asuma had asked him to take care of her.

"Please, I've seen in his head, and I've seen how he looks at you, you've never been just a friend to him," she snorted as she folded her arms.

"What!? Yes! We are!" Temari argued and Ino caught a pained thought from Temari then and realized she had probably not said the wisest thing to the older woman.

"Yeah, you are friends," she admitted. "But that's not how he sees you. Temari, he thinks you're pretty, he likes talking to you, you honestly keep him guessing and engaged, and he's always found you fascinating even if he says troublesome," Ino said firmly.

Temari blushed a little and Ino smiled.

"I don't think it's a good idea to use me as your distraction," Temari said and she sighed again as they walked. Temari was the perfect distraction and she doubted that whatever happened between her and Shikamaru would break their friendship.

"Please!"

* * *

Sai groaned when he woke up in the afternoon to the door banging and he heard Ino. He pulled the covers over his head as he tried to hide from the evil light and the noise of Beautiful as he prayed for a swift and merciful death from his throbbing head. He was startled when there was a thud on his futon and he peeked out from under his covers to see Beautiful laying there glaring at the ceiling.

"Is there something the matter, Beautiful?" he yawned as he tried to hide back under the covers.

"No, I just, argh!" she groaned as she rubbed her eyes and he was startled when she spun to face him.

"Do you know how confusing girls are?" she demanded.

"I am beginning to see the paradoxes of women," he admitted. She frowned and he returned a level look at him.

"Temari likes Shikamaru, Shikamaru likes Temari, but because he's three years younger than her she won't date him!" she huffed out and Sai figured out that despite his headache and the dry mouth he was suffering from he was not going to be having a restful day to deal with his hangover as he sat up and rubbed his face.

"I do not understand the importance of this," he admitted as he looked at her.

Ino sighed as she looked at him.

"Well, I want Shikamaru and Chōji back, I want to reestablish Ino-Shika-Chō, I want that bond back, I got a taste of it before I left because Ibiki had me rely information to the field, but… I didn't realize how much I missed it. And Shikamaru does not approve of my being in the Tortures & Interrogation Unit," she sighed. "So I thought if I could set up a distraction which he couldn't ignore, we could reestablish our connection as Ino-Shika-Chō. But I don't know… I think this could all blow up in my face. Where's your shirt?"

"I do not think I am qualified to talk to you about these matters, and I went drinking last night," he said and tried to smile as he rubbed his eyes and tried not to think with his head. It felt like someone was driving a spike through his head with a sledge hammer, it sucked.

"Oh, I bet you're a funny drunk," she mused.

"Hmm," he hummed because he didn't know what she meant. Suddenly cool fingers were on his temple and he groaned as soothing chakra wrapped it's way forcefully into his system.

"Well, that's a temporary hold on the hangover, I recommend water and something greasy," she said. He just opened his eyes and saw her for real for the first time since she had returned and felt his heart do that funny thing again as she sat there smiling at him.

"Whatever you say Beautiful," he decided and she grinned as she got up and walked off. He got up and pulled on some pants so she didn't see him naked before pulling on a shirt and following her.

* * *

After she had Sai functioning again they were walking through the market.

"So you received a notice that you're apartment is up and you can move back in," she clarified as she picked up some food for the week.

"Yes, I renewed my lease," he said and she didn't flinch from what he said since she had no right to be hurt by him moving out of her compound. It was strange, but she actually couldn't think about how she was going to live there alone. "I thought it was a reasonable move with your flower shop being finished."

"Oh, right," she chuckled, she had forgotten that she too would be moving soon enough. She'd rather live in her flower shop than at the Yamanaka compound, but still… she was going to miss Sai immensely.

"We can still be friends, can we not?" he asked her.

"Of course! Of course we're friends Sai," she insisted fiercely he was her friend, and that wasn't changing anytime soon.

"That is good," he nodded and she smiled as she picked up some cherry tomatoes.

"Akamaru!" she heard, both she and Sai looked up, she barely had a chance to yelp as she was rammed into by a massive dog which was running with a tennisball in his jaws. Strong arms wrapped around her as they fell back, she squeaked as she and Sai hit the sidewalk then.

"Kami! I'm sorry, we were playing fetch, I guess we got a little out of control," she heard Kiba and then she found herself yanked out of Sai's arms, and up. Her breath hitched as she stared at Kiba, his sharp eyes, sharp features, the red triangles tearing his cheeks all made him look rather handsome with his messy brown hair.

"Sorry Ino," he said as his clawed hand released hers'.

"No it's fine, Sai and I were just shopping," she said with a nervous smile and ignore the blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Sai, oh! Sorry man, I didn't even notice you," Kiba announced.

"Evidently not," Sai replied coldly as he stood up. She smiled happily at Sai as he stepped up beside her and she looked back at Kiba.

"How have you been lately?" she asked.

"Oh, good," he said and seemed to be pulling himself out of a daze. "How about yourself?" he grinned.

"We've been getting along," she smiled.

"Well, that's great to hear, have you seen Mirai?" he asked her.

"No, I've been a bit busy, but I was going to go visit her tomorrow," she smiled. That was the goal at least, there was no garentees that she could get over to Kurenai's if Ibiki had work for her to do or training. She would do whatever it took to stay in the Intelligence Unit.

"She's a cute kid," he grinned.

"Yeah, she looks a lot like Asuma," she said softly as she remembered her mentor. Kami did she miss Asuma.

* * *

Sai just frowned at Kiba. It was as if he were not even there, and though he was accustomed to never actually being acknowledge, he found it a bit hurtful that he was being completely ignored by Kiba while they chatted. Ino tried to draw him into the conversation but Kiba just shut him out which had Sai surrendering now.

"I am going to the art shop if you wish to continue our previous conversation," Sai announced to Ino.

"Oh," she said disheartened but he didn't slow as he turned and walked down the block, turned the corner and walked to his normal shop. Walking into the rebuilt shop then. He smiled politely at the cashier girl, the same girl it had been before the war; Ayame or Aoi or something, he honestly hadn't ever paid any attention to her.

"Hello," he greeted politely.

"So you didn't perish! I'm glad!" she smiled. He was confused by this as he picked up a sketchbook and brushes, the paints he wanted, the charcoal, the pencils, and the ink.

"Oh, I do not understand your concern with my wellbeing," he admitted as he wandered the store.

"Well, you're just… you're always so kind and polite when you come in, and you're my best customer," she admitted, he saw her turning red and was baffled by the brunette's actions as she looked at the counter.

"I am pleased that you did not perish either," he decided was a good response with a smile as he walked over to the counter with his items.

"Oh, well, then a ten percent discount to us being alive!" she giggled.

"Thank you," he smiled.

"I'm Asami by the way," she said as she started ringing up the items.

"Sai," he nodded then and smiled politely as he accepted his bag of supplies and struggle with his money and mangled, bandaged hand.

"What happened to your hand?" she asked suddenly and he looked at it again. There was a pain at looking at his bandaged hand and he smiled again.

"It is nothing, thank you," he said as he put the money on the counter, grabbed his bag and left without his change. He didn't like talking about his hand to Beautiful or Ugly, and he didn't want to talk about it with a stranger. Walking the streets again he was startled when a slight hand grabbed his sleeve and looked over to Ino.

"Hey!" she grinned.

"Hello!" he smiled genuinely then as he walked with her.

"Sorry about that back there, I don't think Kiba likes you," she admitted and he shrugged.

"Not many like me," he said softly.

"Well, I don't see why not, you're awesome, and great, and you're you, and a great friend," she said defensively.

He laughed a real laugh at her tone of superiority and smiled at her.

"You are a good friend," he decided and she smiled in delight.

"So about you moving into your old apartment…" she started and they picked up the original conversation.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	23. Part 1: Chapter 23

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 23**

"Hey Ibiki," she smiled as she walked into work the next day. Ibiki looked up at her and smiled and she grinned back, she wasn't entirely certain about Ibiki but she found herself liking him.

"How was the girls' weekend?" he asked her.

"It was fun, the hangover wasn't but it was fun," she admitted as she took a seat across from him.

"That's good, princess, that's good. Now look, we here in Torture & Interrogation, sorry, Intelligence, do the down and dirty work, we break people and we destroy them, if it gets to being too much you need to tell me and we'll rotate you with a lesser duty until you're ready to be on active duty again. And before you think this is favorable treatment, princess, know this, I have to do this with everyone in this unit. We all have breaking points," Ibiki said in a harsh voice and she took a steady breath as she sat there in her new midnight black leather trench coat before she looked up at Morino Ibiki and smiled sweetly.

"Thank you, but I'm staying," she said in a hard tone.

He smiled, a shive made it's way up her back but she didn't shiver in reaction. She liked Ibiki a lot.

"That's good to hear princess, now, you're my personal apprentice, I think you've got what it takes to go all the way here, and even surpass your father, I have faith in you kid," he admitted as he leant back in his chair.

"That's good to know."

"But I'm warning you now, that we are going to work our asses off, starting now," he said as he got up and she followed him out of the dingy office. She had left her platinum hair down today and she was wearing her customary purple with her new jacket.

"Oh, and always dress like yourself here, deception will help your interrogations," Ibiki said.

"Oh, alright," she smiled as she took the folder he handed her.

"Your friend, Nara, brought in a group of assholes and we've been interrogating them since receiving them, and this is where we're starting you off," he said.

"Yes sir," she nodded as she read and walked. She wasn't certain about what she was going to do about this, but she wasn't about to give up, she was going to work in this unit no matter what.

"Good to hear, now about your training," he started.

"I've been working with Sai, he was a former member of Root," she admitted.

"Even better, most of the Root members will be working in the elite ANBU, and we'll be working closely with them, you'll want good relationships with these men to keep tabs on everything going on out there, we don't ever go into the field unless it's an emergency, and with your medical training you'll be a better asset in interrogating for if things go overboard," Ibiki said.

"I'm sorry, but what do you mean I want a friend in the ANBU?" she asked as she looked up from the file.

"We work on collecting enemy information, but it is just as important to know what is going on outside the village that is not involving the enemies, we keep track of all ANBU members for the purpose of knowing where they are for if they are captured. Our job is information, the Hokage and the ANBU and all shinobi rely on us for information," Ibiki explained.

"However, should you need to go into the field you will require an ANBU escort to protect you, not because you are weak but because you are information. No member of our squad leaves this village without an ANBU accompanying them, not even me. If you have a friend in the ANBU, or Root we can assign him to you as your escort for the missions you have to leave this village," he finished.

"Oh," she blinked. She hadn't thought about that part of her job and pondered it for a moment.

"Yes, I'd rather work with Sai, but he's not on active duty right now," she pointed out as she continued reading the file in her hand.

"That's alright princess, you have a lot to learn before we have to worry about sending you out of this village," Ibiki chuckled and she smiled a bit at his soft tone and peeked up at him. He was so bad.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Yes, just because you are not an active field member of the ANBU do not think that means your physical training will lack, some of the missions we undertake here will be the most dangerous of any classification, you will be in peek condition and you will be a honed weapon.

"However, our goal here in Intelligence is to never have to engage the enemy, we do not like giving our enemies an advantage and get to know us, so you will be the best of the best at hand to hand, your father said you struggled with that. I will be instructing you from now on in this matter," Ibiki announced.

"Alright," she nodded.

"Good," he nodded and she smiled a bit, yeah, she could like Ibiki, he was going to be a great mentor for her. "Also I recommend you continue your medical training, it will come in handy, as I said earlier."

"Yes sir, I'll speak with Tsunade about it," she nodded.

"Good, now, come learn something," he said as he opened the door and she looked at another chained man in a dingy interrogation room. Walking in before Ibiki she stood before the man in the flickering florescent light and saw him smirk.

"What'd you do, bring me a whore for pleasure?" the man sneered, she smiled innocently then as she skipped to her seat.

"Well, no, I bring a lot of pain," she mused, and the man laughed.

"I bet a bimbo like you wouldn't know pain if it bit her in the ass," the man laughed, she chuckled then Ibiki slammed the man's face into the table, and Ino kept smiling despite flinching internally at the sound.

"Here's lesson one, princess, pain is a good motivator like you said," Ibiki smiled maliciously and the man started trembling.

"Of course sensei," she agreed.

* * *

Sai walked to the Hokage's office that afternoon, he didn't have a whole lot to do but he was going to chat some more with Kakashi about what Kakashi wanted. He had thought about it and he just couldn't do it, however, he wouldn't mind taking missions up once his hand was cleared. If his hand was cleared, he mentally corrected. There was no point in trying to be optimistic about his hand when he didn't entirely know what was going on with it anymore. All he knew was that it was supposedly healing.

"Hokage," he knocked on the new door of the Hokage office.

"Ah, Sai, come in," Kakashi motioned and reluctantly Sai walked in and took a seat across from his form Captain. He rather wished that they were going to go back to being Team 7, those were his happiest memories with his brother, but he knew they weren't and he was going to accept this.

"I cannot help Root members," he finally admitted.

"I had thought you would say that," Kakashi sighed as he leant back in his chair and Sai sighed as he leant back as well.

"I do wish I could be of service but I cannot do it. I am not a leader, and I am not a helper," he admitted. "I would rather work on missions than deal with the Root adjustments."

"Understandable," Kakahsi sighed.

"I am sorry," he bowed his head then.

"Well, how would you like to be in charge of the ANBU division I'm going to have most of Root going into, you and Captain Yamato will be running it jointly, and you'll still do missions, once your medically cleared that is," Kakashi said and Sai looked up at his former Captain.

"I do not…"

"Sai, you know how Root members operate, you're some of the best shinobi in this village, and all members of Root are the elites that make some of the ANBU look pathetic. I ask you to help Yamato because you and Yamato are the only two members of Root I know who are also accustomed to the way the ANBU work. If there were others like you and Yamato I would seek them out as well, but I do not see many members of Root leaving Root alive," Kakashi admitted.

Sai looked at the desk and frowned.

"They do not understand the bonds of team work, few were like Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune and work in pairs, and even those ties are not there," Sai admitted as he looked at Kakashi. "They would not be good for working in ANBU squads even with adjustments."

There were times even he had trouble remembering to care about his comrades rather than just caring about the mission. Granted Ugly and dickless made it difficult for him to forget them but it wasn't a habit of his; yet; to always look out for them. He was truly working on that but at the same time, he was very accustomed to always having to look out for himself. In fact it was that reason that he was here to talk to Kakashi about. He wanted solo missions again, working in teams was a bit difficult, but he would not mind working in teams again, but for now, he wanted solo work once he was medically cleared again. If he was ever cleared for this work, he corrected.

"No, I have been noticing that, they have very few attachments, in fact I noticed that most of them moved back to where they originally lived," Kakashi said.

"I did as well," he admitted.

"Why?" Kakashi asked in shock.

"Well, it is home, is it not, those apartments are usually a member of Root's only consistency and we have a strange habit of clinging to it," Sai admitted and Kakashi nodded then.

"It's a choice," he shrugged, Sai just nodded.

"So about the ANBU position," Kakashi said.

"I will take it, but I would like to work on solo missions again," he admitted.

"Alright," Kakashi nodded.

"Thank you," he nodded and left then. Walking through the village he noticed how similar and different it was with the rebuild as they now rebuild in the crater Pain had left them in. Stopping on the bridge he looked down at four other walk ways below him and found it interesting as he smiled a bit and then he walked towards the Yamanaka compound again. There were storm clouds rolling in again, but he found all of this soothing.

It was lightly sprinkling when he arrived at the Yamanaka compound and he stared at her for a long moment as his breath hitched.

She didn't turn to him, no, the woman just stood there in black and purple as her head fell back and the rain slid over her pale form.

For a long unknown moment he just stared at her and then he shook himself of his stupor when she looked over at him with her pupil-less blue eyes and smiled a sweet smile.

"Hey Sai," she greeted.

"Hello Ino," he replied as he walked over to her. "You should not stand in the rain."

"It just feels good, soothing," she murmured as her head fell back again and he found a strange desire to run his fingers through her long wet hair but he didn't as he looked up at the rain as well. It did feel good as a light breeze hit him.

"Thank you Sai," she said suddenly.

Again he was confused as he looked to her. "I have done nothing worth thanking."

"No, but you have given me confidence to continue doing Intelligence," she murmured.

"Oh," he nodded and they both stared up at the storm as they were rained on.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	24. Part 1: Chapter 24

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 24**

September slipped by, Sai moved out of the Yamanaka compound and Ino found herself being unreasonably busy. Sai didn't seem to need her and though they started meeting up for dinner once a week. It seemed like a good way to keep up with one another. Sai's hand was apparently healing up well, but she hadn't had much of a chance to look over his records with everything Ibiki had her doing.

Short of living with her Morino Ibiki and she did next to everything together, he was teaching her to ropes and she had to admit that it was all, sickeningly fascinating. She was quickly learning everything and could see the value in information now as she ripped into minds and pulled them apart for information. However, that was the easy part of her life.

Training in hand to hand with Ibiki made Sai look like a walk in the park, and she was trying to quickly adapt her trick into her fighting; but she hadn't mentioned it to Ibiki yet.

The other part, the medical part was self-study at this moment. Tsunade had said it wasn't because she didn't want to teach her but apparently there was an idea rattling around in Tsunade's head for prosthestic limbs that was consuming all the time she wasn't with patients and surgeries. And honestly, that was fine with Ino because honestly Ino could never figure out how Sakura had survived three years of being Tsunade's star pupil.

Tsunade's training still made Ibiki's look like genin work and his training was vicious!

However, that wasn't what was consuming her thoughts as she walked through the cooling September air and head for the market.

What was consuming her mind was the threat that Intelligence had uncovered for the Kage summit, and the Uchiha. It was something they were keeping underwraps, but she knew they had shared this information with Kakashi. Part of her wanted to tell Sakura, but she also didn't want to worry her exhausted friend.

It was a puzzling conundrum for her as she walked through the village.

"Umph!" she grunted when she ran into a body, two hands grabbed her then and she stared into the inky eyes of Sai and smiled reflexively.

"Hello Ino," he smiled as he released her.

"Hey Sai, I've been meaning to come by and say hello," she greeted.

"Hey Sai! Wait up!" a brunette called out and both she and Sai looked over to where the voice was coming from.

"Hello Asami," Sai smiled politely.

"Whew, caught up to you," the civilian huffed out and Ino wanted to frown at her but didn't.

"Here, you forgot this," she huffed as she held up the sketchbook.

"Oh, thank you," he nodded as he took it from her.

"Oh, hey, are you a friend of Sai's?" the bright, cheery brunette asked and Ino smiled icily at her.

"Yeah, I'm Ino," she said.

"Cool, I'm Asami, see you later Sai," the girl said as she jogged off.

"See you later Asami," Sai said and Ino looked at him.

"So…" she purred and Sai gave her a puzzled look and she smiled then. "Asami?"

"What about her?" he asked as they resumed walking through the market.

"She's cute," Ino reluctantly admitted as the thought back on the blue eyed brunette.

"How are things going in Intelligence?" Sai asked her, she would have balked at his avoidance of the inquiry she was making but she really didn't want to pry into Sai's love life. She didn't want to know what skeletons were hiding there. Besides, they were friends and that was it.

"They're going, Ibiki is a monster, but he's a great cook, you should come over for one of his dinners!" she grinned.

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's really sweet," she admitted and Sai smiled as they talked and picked up their groceries.

"How's the hand?" she demanded.

"Tsunade is clearing me next week, after the Uchiha's trial," he admitted. "I'll be heading up a unit with Yamato."

"Sai that's great!" she giggled in delight. "I'm so happy for you!"

"It is satisfying, I guess you were correct about my hand," he submitted.

"Of course I'm right, don't you know, girls are always right," she declared hotly.

"I do not believe this to be the case, an entire sex cannot be correct based solely upon their genitalia," he said.

"Mama what's genitalia?" a passing kid demanded, the woman glared at them, and she burst into hysterical laughter then as she dragged Sai off before he was branded a pervert.

"That's not true, and if you ever get a girlfriend I'm forewarning you that you will always be wrong, so get used to women being right!" she teased.

"I will have to speak to Ugly about your confounding, and misguided facts, she is plenty wrong," Sai countered, she rolled her eyes and hooked her arm with his as they walked.

"I really have missed chatting with you Sai," she admitted.

"I have missed this as well," he admitted as they moved over the bridge. "I go this way," he gestured when they reached the separation point.

"Hey, I've never seen your apartment, mind if I come over?" she asked immediately because she didn't want to give up his company just yet. He looked confused by her request and she smiled.

"But you have groceries to attend to," he pointed out.

"I'll just drop them off and go with you," she decided.

"Alright," he shrugged and they continued toward the Yamanaka Flower Shop. She chatted the entire time telling him about everything that she was up to. She didn't mention some of the things she was learning for Torture & Interrogation, but she didn't feel it was worth mentioning while they were in public. Perhaps in private she could chat with him about everything that she was doing and learning, but she knew it wasn't appropriate to discuss.

"Give me a minute," she pleaded and darted up the stairs to the apartment she had moved into.

* * *

Sai waited for Ino for a long moment and she came jogging down the stairs then and they started towards his place. She continued chatting with him, he listened and talked back to her as they walked. He was rather pleased to have her attention as they walked. Lately they had both become rather busy, and though his work was only in helping Yamato building the new ANBU division, he was rather busy. Many of the members of Root did not like him or Yamato for having left their division in the first place but he had then pointed out that by following Danzo they had betrayed the village they protected by not aiding the village during the Pain Attack.

That had essentially shut them up and had them complying with the new policies. But he did not tell Ino about this. Yamato was rather pleased though with how Sai had gotten through to the Root members. Something which had made him genuinely proud of himself.

They turned onto the path leading to his apartment complex and the lively village almost ceased as they walked into what was now appropriately nicknamed the Root District.

"Wow, it's really quiet here," she murmured.

"Yes, stay close," he ordered as they walked through the district quickly. This was not the safest place to be but it was not a bad neighborhood. He was certain that the Mist probably held some of the worst neighborhoods of the Five Shinobi Great Villages.

"Oh, it's cute!" Ino announced once they walked in. he placed his bags on the counter, pulled out his groceries; mostly frozen foods because he was too tired to cook, and put them away as Ino noisily invaded his home and looked around.

The only other girl; and person; to have ever been in his apartment was Ugly, and that was only because she had managed to get drunk one night and the bar had called him to pick her up. Apparently Naruto was out, Tsunade was drunk with Sakura, and Kakashi was recovering from chakra depletion, again. And after that night, Ugly was the only regular guest at his apartment. She like his art and company, and he found he rather enjoyed hers' too.

However, he found he didn't mind Ino invading his home; a place he shared with so few and didn't really like sharing. It was the only space that was entirely his and his alone, it wasn't really home like the Yamanaka compound had felt, but this studio was his.

"Wow, I knew you liked art, but you have so much stuff here," she said.

He didn't reply as he picked up the art supplies he had just bought and started putting them away.

"Oh, this is beautiful Sai!" Ino gasped and he looked up at the piece she was holding.

"The Yamanaka gardens," he said.

"Kami, would you mind if I hung a few of these in my shop?" she demanded.

"You may have a few," he reluctantly said. Ugly had a few pieces of his, and since Ino was his friend he did not mind sharing his work. But, like with Ugly, it was still very hard to depart with his work.

"Oh my… Sai, this is gorgeous," she gasped.

"That was done with watercolors," he said as he looked at the waterscape he had done. It was a serine place he could not recall seeing, but his fingers had itched to create.

"Why be a shinobi? You could just sell these and make a fortune," she said then.

"I do not like selling them," he replied darkly and finished putting his supplies away.

"It was just a thought," she dismissed and he knew she was done pressing the issue. He finished putting his supplies away and stood up to see her looking through a sketchbook, he grimaced seeing which one it was.

"These are all very good, Sai," she said as she looked at every face of all his comrades and friends. She stopped at one image and smiled softly, he looked at it as he joined her on his new bed, she folded her legs.

"You should give this to her," Ino said.

"I do not think traitor will like it," he countered as he looked at the image she was staring at.

"It's not for him, it's for Sakura," Ino countered and he said nothing as he turned the page for her and immediately regretted that for it was an image of Ino sleeping in her family's garden. She stared at it with a huge smile on her lips.

"Sai! I love this!" she declared, and he stared at her.

"Huh?" he managed, she had just killed his brain with that statement since he knew most people would kill him if they knew he sketched them; especially when they were sleeping.

"It's so pretty! I look pretty! I love it!" she grinned.

"You did not move for hours, I thought you were dead," he informed her then and she gaped at him.

"Way to kill that," she grumbled and continued flipping through his sketchbook. Sai explained a few of the images, she cracked up laughing at his drawing of her and Sakura punching him, he did not find it amusing but it had been a fun drawing to recreate from his memory. She fell off his bed in laughter though at the image of Sakura punching Naruto and he smiled.

"You should share these, they're amazing," she said when they finished his sketchbook.

"You and Ugly are probably the only ones who would think that," Sai admitted with a genuine smile.

"I doubt that, you're very talented Sai," she grinned as she fell back on his bed. He felt a surge of something foreign in him as he looked at her form on his bed.

"You should leave, it is dark and I have an early day tomorrow," he decided.

"Of course, thanks for letting me come over Sai," she grinned as she hopped up.

"I will return you to your home," he decided remembering Sakura's orders that a girl never walk home alone after dark. And he would not have the wrath of Ugly pouring down on him if something happened to Beautiful because he did not escort her home.

"Thank you Sai, that's very gentlemanly of you," she chuckled as he opened the door for her.

"I do have manners," he replied and she laughed as he locked the door of his apartment and started escorting her home.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	25. Part 1: Chapter 25

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 25**

Ino rolled her eyes in exasperation at Temari's blunt no but was undeterred.

"But you agreed to go," she counted.

"Yes, and I'll do it, but not until after the summit is over, Shikamaru and I have a lot of work to do," the older woman countered. Ino didn't bother to point out that she also had a lot of work to do because of the classified threat she had uncovered. But that information was classified.

"I wasn't saying right now!" she hissed, she wasn't so stupid as to think Temari could do the date right now.

"Why aren't you bothering the weird ink guy or Sakura at the moment?" Temari tried to change the subject then, but Ino was irritated with the description 'weird ink guy'.

"Hm? You mean Sai?" she innocently demanded.

"Yeah."

"He's busy at the moment," she dismissed. Sai was coordinating security for the summit with Ibiki and her. "And Sakura's busy with Sasuke, and the flower shop is no longer mine to run, my cousin is taking over the civilian business end, and my other cousin wants to take care of the shinobi side, and the elders are assigning another one to take care of the medical plants, also, the elders want me to focus on the Clan and my apprenticeship so I haven't had a lot of free time either. This is my first break in weeks!" she announced. And that was true, but Ibiki gave her a few hours every evening to herself to do her errands and whatnot before she'd train, go home, sleep, get up, and train some more.

"But seriously, about the date!" she continued.

"Look, I'm going on the date, just don't expect it to be pretty!" Temari dismissed after a groan.

"No! We're going to do your hair, makeup, clothes and shoes!" she persisted.

"Ino!"

"You and I are about the same size, you can borrow some of my wardrobe," she said as she blew over her new friend. "And this is important!" she snapped before Temari could say otherwise.

"Fine! You can set the entire thing up, just don't make me look like a Cloud kunoichi or I'll kick your ass," Temari surrendered and Ino did an internal happy dance.

"Yay! This is going to be great! You're not going to regret it!" she assured, and Temari sighed as she grabbed her shoulders.

"Ino! It's one date, got it?" Temari said slowly and seriously.

"Yeah, I got it," she dismissed. But if things went how she was hoping there was a chance that they would continue seeing one another and Shikamaru would not be all over her decision to be in Intelligence with Temari distracting him.

"Akamaru! Wait up!" she heard, Ino looked around for the beast just as something slammed into her hips sending her toppling onto the boardwalk on her ass as she looked at the dog and groaned. She liked Akamaru, but she didn't like being creamed by him.

"Ow, what the hell?" she demanded and looked at the dog as she got up, that was twice in a week, it was painful. Still she scratched the animal's ears and he sat down to thump his tail happily.

"Hey Kiba," she greeted when the young man came jogging up, she noted that Temari was trying to slip away then. "Talk to you later Temari!" she called after the older blonde. Her friend waved her off and she smiled as she looked to Kiba then.

"Sorry about that again, he must really like you," Kiba grinned his snaggal-toothed grin and she looked at the dog.

"That's alright, it just takes me by surprise," she admitted and slipped her hand into her coat pocket.

"Actually, I was kind of looking for you," he said nervously.

"Oh? What about?" she asked as she looked him over.

"Uh… well, you see, I kind of promised myself that if I survived the war I'd ask you out," he said and scratched his head nervously. Her eyes widened as she looked at him.

"Yeah, see, I kind of liked you before the war, you always smelled so pretty, and you're very beautiful, and smart, but it's also intimidating so I never got up the courage. I thought that if I had the courage to get through the war then I could have the courage to ask you out," Kiba said.

"Wow, uh…"

"Hey, it's cool, no pressure," he grinned and she thought about what he had said. There was nothing wrong with going on a date, was there?

"I'm pretty busy until after the Kage summit," she admitted.

"Hey, it's cool," he said nonchantly and she smiled at him.

"I could try to go on a date after the summit, I can't really ask for more time off my apprenticeship, but I'm certain Ibiki won't mind letting me have a night off," she said.

"Really that's great!" he said as they started walking together. "And you said you had an apprenticeship with Ibiki, would that be scary Morino Ibiki?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm working in Intelligence now," she said as she skipped a bit trying to get him to notice the beautiful coat she was falling in love with. She could see why her father had never taken his coat off, this was a very nice, beautiful, comfortable coat. Also it had a zillion and one hidden pockets and she found she loved it!

"That's… awesome!" Kiba said as he paled a bit and she smiled. "So after the summit?" he asked.

"Sure, when would you like the date?" she asked.

"How about the Tuesday after?" he said.

"Sure, I'll talk to Ibiki," she smiled as she started walking away from him.

"I'll pick you up at six!" he shouted.

"I'll be ready!" she called back and she left him behind. Her heart was ramming nervously in her ribs once she was far enough away from him and she stared around at the people and bit her lip.

It was just a date.

But it kind of made her giddy.

* * *

"The Kage insist upon bringing their own ANBU," Sai said as he sat in a conference room with Yamato and Morino Ibiki.

"Then we should have the ANBU security members have both an escort and a new map of the village, however, our main concerns are here, here and here, they're weak points of entry that anyone can slip in and out because of the ongoing construction," Yamato said.

"Yes, but the intel suggests that they'd come from here," Ibiki countered as he pointed to the Hokage Mountain. Sai sighed.

"I could provide areal security," he pointed out.

"True, but you're not cleared for duty yet," Yamato pointed out.

"Yes, but this is a Kage summit, I am certain Sakura and Tsunade would see the importance of not having a Kage die during this summit," he countered. Besides, with Tsunade's last bit of healing he had found his hand fully functioning without strain, tears, or pain, which had been an amazing sensation after nearly six months of it being mangled and a constant pain attached to the end of his arm.

"If you think you can be cleared then we'll accept the areal surveillance, nothing large enough to spook them if they come," Ibiki said.

"Of course," he nodded and looked the map over for where he would want his vantage point.

"We'll need to inform Sasuke and Sakura," Yamato said.

"The less people that know about this the better," Ibiki countered.

"Yes, but if there is an attack and Ugly is caught in the cross fire I do not believe that traitor will just sit back and let her be killed, and if he goes on a rampage we do not have the resources to stop him. Besides, Ugly has a good relationship with him, she will be able to calm him if he snaps," Sai said.

Honestly, he didn't want a repeat of the last Uchiha episode that had happened because he knew this village could not take a furious Sasuke on. The last time they had gotten lucky that he had focused on Sakura bleeding rather than the raging civilians. Now, if there was a real threat, he did not doubt that there was no chance for them to rein him in. It would be for the best if Ugly and the traitor were at least aware of the possibility of Uchiha Madara fanatics coming after Uchiha Sasuke to claim him as their leader.

"That is true, even Naruto in his current state can't stop him, and we had enough challenges with Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara in the war, and we all know Sasuke just as strong if not stronger than Madara," Yamato pointed out.

"Can they keep it quiet?" Ibiki demanded.

"Ugly can keep a secret, and traitor does not talk to anyone really," Sai replied.

"Fine, we'll inform them, the Uchiha would be their main target if the intel is right," Ibiki grumbled.

"Now, how are we going to coordinate all the security and ANBU here and not let the civilians notice?" Yamato asked.

"Beautiful," Sai answered which had Ibiki and Yamato looking at him. "She can do what she did in the war and connect all the minds of the shinobi in the village as she is told the actual positioning of everyone in the village, she has been practicing."

"Alright, I didn't think she was ready for this just yet, but I'll trust your judgement," Ibiki conceded and Sai nodded then.

"Princess will handle connecting everyone and coordinating everyone, however, I'm thinking we need ANBU in the sewers, just to be safe. Security everywhere, our opponents are shinobi after all, and they won't be like the civilians," Ibiki said.

Sai didn't counter this thought as he pondered the other security problems they were facing. It didn't help that the Kage were bringing their own security and as a former member of Root he was thinking of all the ways around, over, and under the security they were trying to set up.

"Why not leave Root in charge of the security with ANBU teams?" he said seriously.

"And why would we do that?" Ibiki demanded darkly.

"Because they are trained to get around every security measure a nation could put in place," Sai replied. "With their way of thinking the entire village would be covered.

"They don't play well with others in case you have forgotten," Ibiki pointed out.

"No, Sai's right, if we have Root handle leading teams of ANBU then we'll have the whole village covered, they'll think of every which way into this village and how to stop them. We just make the mission specific and they will do it how you want it, but the requirements will have to be very specific or it won't work. Also, this would be a good time for them to stop being Root and start being a part of the village again and accepted members of the ANBU," Yamato admitted.

"Huh, do you think it will work?" Ibiki said as they stared at the map.

"Yes," Sai and Yamato said firmly.

"Alright, we'll try it. However, we're still have a Hyūga outlook surrounding the outposts of the village," Ibiki said firmly.

"Yeah," Sai agreed.

"Good, now the final hinge will be Princess," Ibiki admitted.

"What do you mean?" Sai asked then.

"Her body is most vulnerable when she is using her mind jutsus, Inoichi used to have us lock him in a bunker, but for something like this, she'll need to be situated in a spot where she can send out fluid transmissions, which means a guard is needed for her," Ibiki said.

"I can guard her, I will need a good vantage point to watch over the village, we can set her up with me," Sai admitted. Besides the spot he had picked out was going to be a good transmissions point as well.

"Alright then, now, well just start setting it up," Ibiki decided.

* * *

 **ANNOUNCEMENT!**

 **THERE IS NOW A SIXTH UNTIL THE DAY I... STORY:**

 **UNTIL THE DAY I CONTINUE**

 **I started writing these little oddball spin offs from the main stories; for fun, and because there are so many Naruto characters that I want to touch up on. Now, if you read the other five stories then you know there are no instant couples, I am trying to follow the cannon line with as few deviations as possible, and is immediate post war life.**

 **Now, all of these little spin offs will be following the same guide lines, but on top of that, they will fall chronologically in line with the other Until the Day I… Stories. Mostly so I can keep track of everything, as the writer, which is important to know. Now, also know that I will take character requests for one shots, and I might even come back to the character later in these mini-series, so don't be shy to make requests. If I cannot do your request because of reasons, mostly life, I will tell you but I will be happy to try at another character or a pairing you'd like to see.**

 **Now, I don't mess with canon pairings or semi-canon pairings, but everything else is essentially fair game.**

 **Now for the current list of Until the Day I Continue I have here or intend to put here and their characters:**

 **-Until the Day I Find Serenity: [Neji & Tenten] (UtDIFS)**

 **If you have other requests tell me the character and I'll see what I can do.**

 **So send me a PM or a review!**

* * *

 **.**

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	26. Part 1: Chapter 26

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 26**

Ino woke to the knocking on her door which had her groaning with disgust at it being morning as she slowly sat up in her bed of her apartment over the flower shop she no longer got to run. Sighing she pulled herself out of the bed and wrapped herself up in a robe as she walked over to the door.

"I'm coming," she called as she stifled a yawn and unlocked the door. Sai was there, which had her blinking as he smiled with a delicious smelling box in his hand and a carrier holding two coffees.

"I was told it was proper edicut to bring breakfast when one is about to wake up a colleague," he said and she chuckled.

"Come in Sai, and if you have what I'm guessing to be a blueberry muffin, I want it," she yawned as she shut her door after him.

"Yes, Haruno Mebuki said they were your favorite from her bakery," he said as he took a seat at her table. She chuckled as she joined him and took the warm muffin to munch on. "She also made you a loca mocha or something; I am not certain what it is but she said it's your favorite," he said as he handed it to her.

"Thanks, what's up since you have brought me breakfast and called me your colleague," she yawned and popped another bit of the muffin in her mouth.

"Morino sent me to brief you as to the coming plans for the Kage summit since you are instrumental in coordinating the security of the summit and I am to be your guard," he said as he pulled out a plain pastry to eat and sipped his own coffee.

"Oh right, am I to be the coms person?" she asked as she ran a hand through her messy hair; suddenly she regretted not brushing her hair and felt her cheeks warm. However she reminded herself that Sai had seen her at her absolute worst so he shouldn't really be expecting her best from her first thing at… she blinked at the clock; five in morning!?

"As a matter of speaking, mostly you are to make certain that we do not have an attack happen, they are after Ugly's traitor," he informed her. She blinked; it was too fucking early in the morning to be dealing with this.

"Alright!" she yawned and stretched her arms over head; Sai was here now so she would give him her undivided attention as he briefed her, then she was going to get ready for her day of training with Morino and be ready for everything that could come her way today. "So what's the plan?"

"We are going to be positioned here, I was cleared yesterday by Tsunade and will be your guard while you use the machine to amplify your abilities and connect all minds, there will be no frequency for then enemy to pick up and counter an attack with," he started. She just listened.

* * *

Sai's next stop after talking with Ino for three hours was Sakura's. Now, it had taken a bit of arm twisting on his part but Morino had agreed that he could share the bare minimum with her and traitor about the situation coming to the summit, or rather, could be coming to the summit. Mostly, Sai wanted to forewarn traitor so he didn't go nuts, and he wanted Sakura aware so she did not go hurt and traitor went nuts. If the incident in the village was anything to go by then he had reason to be worried about Sasuke losing it.

Knocking on Ugly's door when he reached it he waited a moment when it was opened, he smiled.

"Hey Sai, what's up?" the pinkette smiled at him and he walked into her home then.

"I am here on official business, Sakura," he replied trying to be professional. Truthfully, he just wanted to blurt out everything; censoring be damned. This woman was his sister, his friend, and of the few who accepted him for all he was.

"Oh," she nodded.

"Where is the…" he started to say traitor but changed it quickly. "Uchiha?"

"He crashed," she said and walked away from him after shutting her front door. Sai watched her go and took a seat at her table. He didn't have to wait long for the taitor who was following Ugly then.

"Hello traitor," he smiled.

"Social retard," Sasuke replied and Sai was pretty certain that they were bonding in a way, and he didn't mind the Uchiha's nickname for him if the Uchiha did not mind being called traitor. Sai knew he was not the most socially graceful of people.

"What is it?" Sakura asked as she took a seat at the head of the table.

"Many radicles are mounting a plan to attack us during the Kage summit, which you know started earlier this week," he said; yesterday if they wanted to be technical. "To capture you as their leader." He said pointedly to Sasuke who blinked. "Apparently many of them believe that you are Uchiha Madara's incarnation who will lead them."

"No."

Sakura sighed, and Sai was pleased with the traitor's furious 'no' then. It was confirmation to him that he would not be going rogue or hurting Ugly anytime soon.

"So what are we doing?" Sakura asked.

"The hearing is tomorrow, and I decided that it was time you knew. It is believed that if they strike it will be tomorrow during your hearing, traitor, and we wanted you aware of the possibility," Sai said. After this talk he was picking Ino up as the summit officially convened and she would be coordinating security.

"Thank you Sai," Sakura smiled weakly and he smiled a bit. He knew this was hurting her more than she was letting on but he wasn't going to worry about Ugly too much. she was a strong woman and could take care of yourself

"You're welcome Ugly," he replied as he stood.

"Anything else?" Sasuke asked sharply.

"Yes, I have a request of my own," he replied. He had a request that nothing happen to Ugly, but he knew that would be putting too much faith in the traitor and he couldn't completely entrust his 'sister' to the traitor just yet. Sai would wait a bit and decide later if he could fully trust the Uchiha or not. "Do not destroy the village."

Sasuke rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose and Sai smiled as he left them be. He had a job to do now and though he wasn't excited for it he knew it was a very important; if minor task. Getting to his apartment he pulled on his mission gear, checked all his weapons quickly, pulled out his scrolls then put them back before picking up his tip-less tantō he sheathed it on sheath resting on his spine. He was ready for his mission now, and he was nervous as hell as he looked at his scarred hand.

Still, he was going and he hoped Ino was briefed by the time he reached Morino's office. Knocking he was barked at to get in the office.

"Hello," he smiled politely as he stood there.

"Ah, Sai, right on time. I was just warning princess about what this mission entails, and your aspect of it," Morino said as he leant back in his chair.

"Of course, is Beautiful ready for the mission?" he asked as he looked over to the platinum girl who was a stark contrast to her black trench coat. She smiled confidently, but he knew that smile, he knew that mask; it was the same as Ugly's yet different, when she was hiding an insecurity.

"I was born ready!" she declared confidently.

"That's my princess, now make us here in Torture & Interrogation proud; sorry, Intelligence," Morino growled out the last part and Ino laughed as they left his office. Sai smiled as he walked with her.

"Are you ready for this Sai?" she asked.

"I believe I have no choice but to be ready," he said evenly. Truthfully, he was terrified that his hand was not going to work and he wouldn't be able to perform his jutsu but it was too late to state that fear.

"It'll be fine Sai, I believe in you, you believe in me and we're going to get through this," she said.

"Alright, anything interesting happen this last week?" he asked knowing that they hadn't had much time to be friends really and the last few times they had met up they had been interrupted by the dog boy and his dog.

"Yeah, I have a date after the summit," she said gleefully.

"Oh?" he said, and he felt like something was stabbing him in the chest.

"Yeah, with Inuzuka Kiba," she said and he felt a deeper pain in his chest as he smiled at her obvious joy of the date. There was something small in him which wanted her happy, he just didn't know why it hurt.

* * *

"Do you like him?" Sai asked her in an uncertain voice and she giggled a little.

"Well… I don't know him, I mean I know we were classmates at the Academy and all, but I don't know him. Truthfully we had never talked before he asked me out, but hey, he said he would ask me out if he survived the war; which I thought was sweet, and I thought why not? So I'm going on a date with him," she explained.

"Do I hope you have fun on the date or is that not an appropritate thing to say to one's friend who is female?" Sai asked her.

"You can wish me fun, but I was hoping of something more along the lines of wishing me luck, I haven't been on a date since before the Pain Attack," she said as they walked.

"Then I wish you to have a lucky date," he decided and smiled. She felt her face burn at his wording and grinned.

"Let's hope I'm not that much of a slut to sleep with a guy on the first date," she teased. It was his turn to turn a bit red and she thought it adorable.

"I did not mean to imply that you are a slut!" he squeaked.

"I'm teasing you Sai, besides, if I wasn't confident in myself I wouldn't have said it," she explained.

"Oh," he nodded uncertainly. "So I did not offend you, Beautiful?"

"Not in the slightest," she assured him.

"What does one do on a date?" he inquired as they hurried to the spot where she was to be hooked up to the machine to coordinate all the security. The summit would be starting in the next four hours and security was hyping up at the moment.

"Well, you go to dinner with someone, hold their hand, talk, walk around, enjoy each other's company and get to know each other," she explained.

"Is that not what one already does with friends?" Sai asked.

"Yes, but dates are special because they are with people who mean something a little more than friendship and hold a different possibility in them. Like getting a boyfriend, fiancé or husband, or a sex buddy depending on who you're dating," she explained.

"That is very confusing," he admitted.

"Yeah, I guess," she shrugged as they made it to her destination.

"Are you looking for a boyfriend, fiancé, husband or sex buddy?" he asked as she sat down.

"Well…" she smiled coyly then. "That's for me to know and Kiba to figure out," she winked before sliding the machine over her head and eyes. Weaving the signs she slipped into a meditative state as she reached her mind out to connect with all the security in the village for the summit. Part of her head hurt from pulling it apart like this, but another part of her whispered that she had connected more people on the battlefield and frontlines without the use of the amplifier.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	27. Part 1: Chapter 27

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 27**

Ino sighed as she took off the machine for the third day in a row and rubbed her throbbing temples. Stretching her mind that much in the war had hurt like a son of a bitch, but she had done it without a machine to help her, this was rather like a dull ache and probably because she was out of practice rather than because she was was focusing too hard, standing she stumbled when a set of strong arms caught her and she slumped back to look into a set of inky eyes. Smiling a bit, she sighed.

"Sorry," she yawned.

"I was forewarned that I was not to let your body hit the ground," Sai said as he pulled her up against him and she leant on him as they stumbled from their watch post. At night they used the coms, it wasn't ideal but no one else in the Yamanaka Clan was as proficient at stretching their mind as she was so she didn't dare to ask any of her cousins. It wasn't a lack of faith in their abilities but rather because stretching the mind how she had in the war without assistance was unheard of in her clan and stretching minds even wih the machine is difficult and she didn't want one of her cousins to be driven insane if their mind was stretched too far.

Her limits were rather unknown and she would start pushing them again when she got past her Torture & Interrogation training.

"It's alright, it's preferred though that I don't hit the ground, it hurts," she admitted.

"I see, then I will make certain you do not hit the ground," Sai decided.

"What? Are you going to catch me from now on?" she teased.

"If that is what is called for," he replied rather smoothly and she stared at him with wide eyes as she felt her heart stumble a bit and butterflies take hold of her stomach as a blush started creeping up on her.

"Thanks Sai," she smiled.

"Of course, and as your friend I will try to always catch you," he said as he helped her towards the Intelligence building so she could report for a debriefing from Ibiki. Sai got her to the office and had her in a chair, she sighed in relief when there was a glass of water in front of her nose, she blinked but took it and sipped it as she looked at Ibiki's empty desk. A moment later her mentor stomped in.

"Imbeciles," he growled out as he took a seat, it didn't take mind reading for her to know he was speaking of the council, he was not overly fond of them. Especially when they were diverting all his resources and forcing him to work with less in these times of 'peace'.

"The security is solid, there was a disturbance in the northeast, it was reported to be nothing more than a bunch of rogue chūnin protesting the Kage summit, a scan of their mind told me they are a apart of no radicle group, but rather protesting the Allied Shinobi Forces believing that all the shinobi nations should be separate, they were harmless. Other than that everything's been quiet," she said.

"Sai?"

"There are disturbances in our surveillance area I will be moving Ino to another location tomorrow so we are not attacked," Sai said. Ino shuddered at the thought because her body was completely vulnerable to whatever could come her way.

"Alright, the Uchiha will be testifying by the end of the week, we're going to tighten up security so he is not put in a position to fight should there be an attack. Our only goal is to keep the Uchiha out of the skirmish until his official sentence is handed down."

"Understood," she and Sai said together.

"Now get out of here, I'll see you both tomorrow at the crack of dawn," he dismissed and she walked with Sai. She had recovered most of her strength now and was fine walking on her own.

"What are you doing for dinner Sai?" she asked.

"I was going to pick up some take out on the way to my apartment," he replied.

"Nonsense, you'll come over to my place, I have tofu in the fridge," she grinned and he smiled.

"That would be delightful," he replied with that fake smile of his. She figured they were going to have to work on the smiling. "But is it not inappropriate to invite a man you are not dating to your home when you date another?"

"Oh, Kiba, yeah, that's just a date Sai and you're my friend. You go to Sakura's all the time," she pointed out knowing he did before the war and that habit was likely to pick up again now that the war was over. Him and Naruto both.

"Yes, but Ugly is in love with traitor and is not dating anyone else," he pointed out.

"True but I'm not officially dating Kiba, if we get to about date four then I'll consider us as dating, but if not then we're just two people who went on a date," she shrugged. "And you and I are friends, if Kiba has a problem with us then he's going to get his head examined by me."

"Well, if it is not going to get you in trouble then I will be happy to come over to your place for dinner," he said with a smile.

She laughed and grabbed his arm.

"Come on Sai," she chuckled as she all but dragged him to her place. Pulling out her keys she opened the door to her apartment over the flower shop, flicked on the lights then looked back when Sai didn't follow her.

"Come on Sai," she grabbed his arm and pulled him then.

"Alright," he managed uncertainly.

"Make yourself at home," she said as she pulled off her coat and hung it up then walked to her room to change.

* * *

Sai looked around uncertainly then sat down after pulling his shoes off so he didn't soil Ino's carpet. Ugly's place was a crash pad, this place was warm and inviting and it was more alive and lived it.

It was not like the Yamanaka compound which had been homelier than this place, but this was not bad. Just… cleaner and he felt out of place here. which was sort of strange as he looked around her place and waited for her. Ino came out of the room with her long hair down, dressed in casual, no sexually appealing clothes, and she walked into the kitchen.

He couldn't look away from her, she was mesmerizing and he didn't know why this was.

"So, tofu?" she asked.

"Whatever you want to cook," he said as he walked over to her and looked at the ingredients she was pulling. At least she wasn't like Sakura who threw all the healthiest ingredients together with no regard as to how they would taste.

"Alright, here we go," she smiled and they both silently hung out in the kitchen as Ino cooked which was a blessing in his mind as he watched her.

"Why Kiba?" he asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Why are you dating Kiba?"

"Well, I'm not, I'm going on a date with him, and life's too short not to have fun," Ino admitted as she cooked.

"Oh," he nodded without really understanding what she was saying; he wanted to understand what this dating would entail, but he was pretty certain he was out of his depth of understanding.

"Haven't you ever gone on a date?" she asked.

"A seduction mission," he replied.

"Sai!" she shrieked.

"Was I not supposed to say that?" he asked quickly because even Sakura knew that he did not do these dates. But he would be honest and admit that he had done seduction missions, he was rather good at them when he was not required to talk, or be anything but himself.

"No! It's just… have you never been on a date!?" she demanded.

"Distractions from missions are not becoming of shinobi," he pointed out and then walked to her fridge to see if she had something to drink.

"Well, we're going to have to change this," she said.

"Huh? Why?" he asked as he found a red wine in Ino's fridge and poured himself some, then her some.

"Well, because… it's fun!" she smiled.

"I do not think a girl would want to date me," he pointed out. He was having a hard enough time with social boundries with friends, a date or girl would just further complicate his learning of human social habits. It was also probably a fast way for him to be slapped. Kami knew Sakura hit him often enough for saying something inappropriate or doing something dickless said was appropriate but wasn't.

"What about that girl from your art shop?" Ino said quickly.

"Ai?" he asked uncertainly trying to remember the name of the brunette working the counter at his art supply store. He honestly did not care all that much about her but had exchanged pleasant conversation with her now that she was happy to see him walk into her shop. It was kind of annoying.

"No, Asami," Ino corrected.

"Oh, no, I like that are shop," he replied. And he had heard of fallouts which made men and women actually divide themselves with their new haunts. It was probably not a good idea to date a girl who worked at a shop he liked; it was the best art shop in the Leaf and he didn't want to have to hunt up another one.

"Sai, that has nothing to do with dating," she sighed.

"I do not want her to hate me and I have to find a new art shop if she comes to hate me from a date," he said.

"Fine, but we're not going to be done with this topic, you will try dating," Ino persisted.

"Why?"

"Why!? Because Sai, you're young, you're sweet, you're sexy, and you deserve to have some fun while you're young, don't be like Sakura," she said.

"But Ugly has a lot of fun," he countered, he knew because Sakura seemed to enjoy her life.

"Sakura is a one woman army, she saves lives for a living, she had the most pitiful dating life I have ever encountered, and she's in love; genuinely, honest to Kami, once in a life time, in love with that asshole Sasuke who continuously breaks her heart. Trust me, Sakura doesn't have fun like a young person," Ino said.

Sai just blinked at the set down she had given Ugly, and they were supposedly friends!? It was confusing as he stared at her and she sipped her wine then grabbed the plates for their food.

"Look, I love Sakura, but she's never really been young, I don't think she ever really tried," Ino admitted. "She's got a lot of potential and yet she doesn't live out of her comfort. I also think she intimidates just about everyone because of her strength and her intellect. She's not a fool, but neither are you. And Sai, you're a catch, any girl would be lucky to have you."

"I am going to focus on my career and figuring people out before I date," he said firmly.

"Come on, I'll get you a date yet," she chuckled as they walked over to her table.

"I do not think this is a good idea," he admitted.

"Why not!? It'll be fun!" she smiled. His heart did that weird thing again as he stared at her.

Why not she had asked. Well that was something he didn't know himself but his mind was thinking of blue skies and sunshine and lavender filling the air. It was hard to think as he stared at her bright smile.

"Fine," he conceded and if it was possible her smile grew and he looked at his plate of food to start eating.

What the hell was wrong with him!?

The moment he and Ugly had a free day he was dragging her off to talk to her about this weirdness!

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	28. Part 1: Chapter 28

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 28**

It was the afternoon, and she had been pulled off her detail for the hour by Ibiki because she needed to eat. Ino wasn't too happy about this but apparently Sai had ratted her out for not eating yesterday. Which was why she was munching on a delicious red apple as she followed the familiar chakra and mind she knew as well as her own. Today was to be the day she was going to talk to Shikamaru about getting the bad back together; so to speak.

Truthfully, she was just exhausted not having them there in the back of her mind.

Which was why she was hunting down Shikamaru right at this moment. Unsurprisingly she found him in the sun on a dying patch of October grass. She walked up to his head so her shadow fell over him to irritate him, sure enough it worked as he opened his eye to glare at the offender; she smiled sweetly.

"You're standing in my sun," he grumbled.

"I know," she careless shrugged as she sat beside him then and stared out at his view. It was very peaceful here. rather serine.

"What are you doing here Ino?" he sighed.

"I miss you and Chōji," she admitted.

"Is that the only reason?" he asked.

"No, I've come to tell you to pull whatever stick you have shoved up your ass about my being in Intelligence out and get used to the matter or we're never going to be able to be friends," she snapped at him.

Shikamaru propped himself on his elbows then, she didn't look at him though. She could sense what he was doing with how she was flaring her chakra though; in a way that trick was rather like echolocation for dolphins or bats. She saw everything.

"I've been think about it for two months. I don't have to be happy about you being in Intelligence," he said firmly, she glared at the scenery. "But…"

"Stuff it Shikamaru," she snapped. She didn't want to hear his 'but' telling her that if she left they'd be fine. "I'm not leaving Intelligence."

"I was going to say I can learn to live with it," he sighed. She scowled at being wrong as she glanced at him to make certain he wasn't bullshitting her. He didn't seem to be bullshitting her.

"Are you willing to make it up to me?" she asked and smiled a bit deviously.

"Uh…" he looked like a deer caught in the spotlight, she rather liked it when she had him trapped like this.

"It's actually because of that snide thought you had of Sai," she quipped. "I'm insisting you agree or I can keep you, Chōji, and I severed for a longer time. I like having my head to myself," she lied; she was feeling a bit insane not feeling them in the back of her mind. It was like being severed in thirds and she was alone on an island when she had always had Shikamaru and Chōji with her; it was lonely.

"It was just a thought Ino!" he groaned in exasperation.

"And he's been my only friend since I woke up in the hospital, I'm not going to let you get away with insulting him when I've gotten revenge on others for pettier things they've said about you and Chōji," she argued. Guilt tripping Shikamaru could work when she played it right, though most of the time she could have it backfire and blow up in her face.

"Fine! Fine, whatever you want," he surrenedered and she smiled in triumph knowing it was too much energy for him argue with her. That's why she was winning this.

"Good," she nodded. Victory was hers. "You're going to be dressed up, I'll have the flowers, and you'll be ready for your date on the day I pick," she stated.

"A date!" he shouted.

"If you want the Ino-Shika-Chō connection back you'll do it; because I know for a fact you're a virgin and have never been on a dat. If you want to insult Sai about his dating and sex life then you're going to need one for comparison," she argued. He just sighed.

"Please don't make it someone stupid," he pleaded and she knew she had victory.

"Good, and I know you'll like who your date is with," she said confidently. Besides, the girl she had gotten for him for a date was the girl he had a thing for, and she knew he had a massive crush on Temari because she had eyes. Also, Shikamaru got up and actually tried to be with her. If that wasn't an obvious sign of him having a crush she didn't know what was.

"Now that you've agreed I gotta go back to work, I'm off for the moment," she smiled and hopped up to her feet, she was rather pleased at being able to maneuver Shikamaru how she wanted. But she had a feeling he was really missing the Ino-Shika-Chō connection.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She sensed his genuine curiosity in what it was she did but Ino just smiled.

"Shikamaru, just cause we're Ino-Shika-Chō doesn't mean I can tell you my very classified mission at this moment," she chuckled and skipped off feeling lighter than she had in days.

It felt good to have a way back into Shikamaru's life, she just didn't want him prying into what it was she was going to be doing for Intelligence. Also, she was becoming rather fond of Ibiki and was starting see why her father had been so fond of him. There was also the matter of Ibiki slowly becoming a man she could turn to about anything, and he would listen to her. Her father had done that for her before she had alienated him by shouting that the family jutsu was useless and training to be a medic. Now, now Ino wished she had listed to her father more and her hurt ego less.

* * *

Sai was exhausted by the end of the day, it was taxing to look after Ino, and the hour replacement of Ino. Now he was walking to his apartment with his hands shoved in his pockets as he tried to keep the chill he was feeling from this brisk October breeze.

He was not feeling all that great with his hand and the cold, it was actually hurting his bones. Which was distracting because bone pain was not something one simply ignored. Gritting his teeth he just walked to his place.

Perhaps that was his mistake, perhaps that was his first error in years, perhaps that was just a miscalculation of his. But either way he hadn't noticed until he was at the stairs for his apartment complex that someone was following him which had him fingering a knife he always kept on his person as he slowly turned to look at the man following him.

He found himself looking at a large dog and Kiba. It did not relax him any but it was enough to ease him as he looked at the wolf looking man waiting for whatever was to be said.

"Hey Sai," Kiba smiled a smile which made Sai think of a wolf cornering prey which had him on edge again.

"Kiba," he acknowledged.

"Can we talk?" Kiba asked.

"I was about to make tea," he admitted.

"It's cool out, mind sharing?" Kiba asked.

"Not at all," he smiled politely and they walked up the stairs of his apartment. Unlocking his door Kiba and Akamaru shoved their way in. Though he did not like that attitude it rather reminded him of Naruto which was why he dismissed it as an annoyance rather than worrying about it.

"What is it you want to talk about?" Sai asked as he pulled out the plain white kettle and the plain mugs to pour the tea before he pulled out the tea he was making tonight. After Kiba left he was going to make dinner for himself and then fall asleep because he was exhausted babysitting Ino all day. Even though she was still, quiet and vulnerable she was exhausting. Amazing how that was, not even Ugly could pull that off.

"Look, I guess you and Ino are close?" Kiba said uncertainly as his horse of a dog wandered the apartment.

"She is a friend," Sai replied as the kettle whistled, he pulled it then and started prepping the tea.

"Well she's about to be my girlfriend," Kiba bluntly stated.

"Beautiful did not explain it that way, she said that people with mutual interest dated and when they reached about the fourth date they were officially a couple of some sort," he replied as he sat at his table and gave Kiba a mug.

"Well, I intend to make it to that fourth date," Kiba stated firmly.

"Then I hope you fair well, Beautiful is a handful," Sai said as he sipped the warm liquid and savored it for a moment as it warmed his gut and chased the minimal shivers he had. Also it was warming his hand up, but the bone deep ache was still here and it was almost crushing his hand from the inside out, it was painful. Perhaps he would take his medicine to relieve some of his pain.

"I need you to stop hanging around her and to stop calling her Beautiful; she's not your girlfriend," Kiba growled.

"I did not realize I was doing anything wrong by hanging around her," Sai said.

"Well, she's not your girl, you're not dating her, I'm going to be dating her and I would really prefer it if you don't hang around her," Kiba growled lowly.

"I do not understand," Sai said calmly. His heart felt like it was being stabbed for some reason and he was feeling very confused and lost at this moment as he stared at the man.

"It is not polite to be pawing another man's girl, or nicknaming her," Kiba explained darkly.

"But you are not dating Beautiful yet," Sai pointed out coldly.

"Just start doing what I asked or I'll keep Ino away from your weird ass completely," Kiba snapped.

Sai blinked.

"I hardly think my anatomy has anything to do with Beautiful hanging around me or not, she is a free woman to do as she pleased, even if you claim to be her boyfriend; and even if she was your girlfriend you still would not have control of her," Sai stated bluntly and stood up as he put his mug in the sink.

"You do realize that she's not yours or avalible right?" Kiba spat out.

"Ino," he stressed her name then. "Is free to do as she pleases or doesn't please. Now excuse me, but I have an early day of work tomorrow and need to eat and rest," he said as he yanked his door open and looked at Kiba.

The other growled as the dog trotted out the door and Sai looked evenly at the young man.

"This isn't over," Kiba snapped.

"I am very unaware as to what this is," Sai countered and shut the door on Kiba before locking it.

This was exhausting, whatever it was. He was going to speak with Ugly about this after the Uchiha trial. That is unless he went on a mission first. It was tempting to go to the Hokage and request a different detail. But he knew that was not a wise idea because then he would have to explain what was going on and he didn't know how to do that when he had no idea what that had been. Pulling out a frozen dinner he popped it into his microwave, ate, brushed his teeth, pull on his pajamas then fell onto his bed to sleep.

The only problem with this:

His mind was now exceedingly restless with thoughts of Beautiful dating the dog-boy. It wasn't a pleasant feeling twisting up his gut at this moment as he tried to fall asleep.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	29. Part 1: Chapter 29

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 29**

Ino's mind was feeling worn thin but as today was the day the Uchiha was leaving she had been up at her post since midnight. The information that shinobi were coming for the Uchiha wasn't a flux, it wasn't false, it was just simply a matter of when.

She felt Sasuke and Sakura leave with Kakashi and she set a team with them as she continued pulsing her own chakra and taking in the readings from the Barrier Division, both Detection, and Interception, as she sat at her perch concentrating on all the minds of her village and trying to look for unfamiliar 'flavors' as she searched for the coming terrorist. It was a scary thought that they could have infiltrated the village because of the summit but it was a reality she was accepted and was working against as she sent teams where security was weak and rotated the teams out.

"Ino, you should rest," Sai said that morning.

"Can't, concentrating here," she snapped. She couldn't rest when there was a team of terrorist coming for Sasuke and the price of that was the village, and her best friends, and everything they were rebuilding! It was important that she did this. She stiffened when she finally sensed what she was searching for, a group of unfamiliar minds, unfamiliar chakras, and Tsukiyomi thoughts.

 _I have them, they're to the north of the ridge, east by two clicks, they're heading for the village gates; team of eight_ , her mind said as she touched the minds of the nearest Interception Squad.

 _On it, princess_ , the leader's mind responded and she waited as she followed their chakras until they were out of her range then she was talking with the Detection Squad as to what was going on with the Interception Squad she had sent.

It was an agonizing wait as she gently invaded the mind of the leader of the Interception squad to see what was going on. She was vastly relieved as the terrorists were intercepted and brought into custody then.

"We've captured the team sent for the Uchiha," a voice filled her com then and she sighed as she slowly pulled her mind and chakra back together and collected her soul as she relaxed in the machine for a moment before pulling the head gear off.

"Now I can rest," she murmured and Sai looked at her.

"Your nose is bleeding," he announced as he shoved a cloth to her and she chuckled as she accepted it and wiped her nose. She didn't know how she had done what she had done in the war without having suffered a major brain rip or death or killing someone.

"Better?" she asked.

"Of course Beautiful, the relief is here," he said as he helped her up, she waved to her clan member, the young man looked nervous but smiled a bit as he took her place with his own Root guard. Sai pulled her arm over his shoulders and she sighed as she leant on him.

* * *

Ino was so light, she was so slight too, it was startling to him as her body molded into his side and they slowly made their way to her apartment over the flower shop. She yawned and grumbled as they slowly maneuvered their way to her place.

"I don't know why I'm still so tired from that jutsu with the assistance of the machine," she yawned as he took her key and unlocked her place.

"Perhaps you should practice more," he replied calmly as he walked into her place and kicked the door shut behind him.

"Huh, maybe," she yawned, he propped her onto the arm of her couch, she looked so tired from pushing herself for the past week and the Kage summit was still another week long. He didn't know how she was going to handle it as he gently pulled her shoes off and kicked his own off as he again propped her to his side. He'd have carried her but she seemed determined to walk.

"Come on Beautiful," he huffed when she staggered and stumbled.

"Sorry, I… I'm exhausted," she yawned.

"You need a shower," he said.

"I know," she mumbled into his shoulder and he stopped, she was out now, and he was not dragging her to her room. Scooping her up against his chest he carried her to her bed and unceremoniously dropped her, she grunted and rolled away from him.

He'd have left her there as she was but he knew that she shouldn't sleep in that jacket with all the weapons and shit he knew was stored in it, which was why he leant over and started peeling it off her. Ino scooted away and he swore as he flipped her onto her stomach and yanked it off. He stumbled back a bit and swore when he hit his funny bone and stars erupted before his eyes from the hit to his elbow. Fuck! Did that ever hurt! He thought.

Ino just curled up and he scowled a bit wondering how she could get herself so exhausted for this work, then he dropped her coat on the couch, pulled on his shoes, looked at the key, sighed, stepped out the door, flipped the lock then slid the key under the door. It wasn't ideal, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to her because her door was unlocked.

Walking down the stairs he stiffened when he saw Kiba and Akamaru outside the flower shop. He still had no idea what the last encounter he had had with the Inuzuka had been about but he didn't want a repeat.

"Oh! Hey Sai!" Kiba shouted as the dog bounded in front of him stopping him. Sai internally felt like hitting his head against a brick wall now. He was also hoping Ugly or Naruto would magically appear to save him from whatever talk was coming because he was very confused about this thing Kiba was after and doing.

"Hello Kiba," he said as he plastered on a fake smile and hoped to Kami this wasn't going to be a weird talk; again.

"Have you seen Ino, I need to talk to her," Kiba asked.

"Ino is resting, she had a tiring night in Intelligence," Sai explained.

"Oh, do you know where she is? I just want to check in on her," Kiba said.

"I just put her to bed myself, she is out like a light," he said cheerily as he tried to sidestep Kiba. But that didn't let him escape as the larger man stepped between them.

"Now Sai we talked about this! She's my girlfriend and you are not to be hanging out with her that way," Kiba growled and Sai frowned as he looked into the slitted eyes of Kiba.

"She is not your girlfriend until you are actually dating, from my understanding; and as Beautiful explained it she will decide if you are boyfriend and girlfriend around date four, until then she is my friend, and my comrade, and current charge under the orders of Morino Ibiki, Commander of the Torture & Interrogation Unit," he said evenly.

Stars erupted before his eyes again as pain bloomed in his gut and then the wind was knocked out of him as he was slammed into the wall.

"Listen here you, I told you to stay away from her, and I don't fucking care how you do it creep but stay away from Yamanaka Ino, and stop nicknaming her Beautiful!" Kiba snarled lowly.

Sai glared in retaliation before he moved swiftly, Kiba was pinned on his stomach on the ground and he had a blade on the dog quickly as he leant over to Kiba's ear.

"Yamanaka Ino is a free woman, and she is my friend, she is free to do as she pleases and until she says we are no longer friends, I will continue to learn to be her friend. And I am under orders to protect her, and that could mean I protect her from you as well," he said lowly. "Ino is a friend of mine, you will have to learn how to accept that. And it is not polite to call someone a creep," he said as he stood and walked off.

He was losing patience with this situation, and it didn't help that it was already confusing the hell out of him. now there was Kiba coming in saying he couldn't be friends with Ino. He wanted to just go home, wash off the last fifteen hours, and sleep for another ten then get back to work.

Walking up the drab stairs to his place he froze when he saw his tells were on the ground, and his hand went for his weapon. Slowly he approached his door, and after having dealt with Kiba he was a bit on edge.

His hand touched the knob of his door lightly, the sniffling on the other side had him sighing and opening the door then.

* * *

Slowly she roused after having felt like she had been dumped on her bed, and a tad cold. Sitting up she groggily looked around and yawned as she swung her legs off the bed to see if she could find Sai since she was relatively certain he was the one who had brought her home.

Poking her head out of her room she looked around the apartment and found…

Nothing.

Her shoes were by the door, her jacket was on the couch and she winced when she stepped on the key and it stabbed her toe. Alright, so Sai had brought her home, she decided as she picked up her key again and slipped it onto her growing key chain. Once her key was where it belonged she decided she was tired of feeling sticky as she peeled off her clothes, gathered her silk nighty and walked into her shower. Sighing in bliss she let the hot water run over her body as she slid her fingers through her hair.

She was a bit concerned for Sai and the fact he had left her here asleep, but she supposed it was better that he had been the one to bring her home. There was something off about him this past week, they didn't have their normal abnormal conversations, and he had been avoiding her a little. Or at least, that was how it felt.

Washing her hair she wondered if it was something she had said to him or something she had done. She didn't think that was the case, but with Sai she didn't know. He was an odd one, not that she minded. His quirkiness was kind of cute and she could see that he was truly sweet, if a bit detached. But that was alright in her mind as she sighed again and closed her eyes to the spray of her shower.

Stepping out of the shower she toweled herself off then rubbed in her coconut scented lotion before pulling her favorite purple silk nighty up. She stopped at her image in the mirror and smiled as she grabbed the towel and brush to dry her hair for some, so as to not catch a cold.

Ino knew she was pretty, it was hard not to know when she had been an early bloomer and a pretty child. She had the perfect figure, only rivaled by Hinata, she had flawless skin, sunshine colored hair and blue eyes; she was beautiful in her ones too. Looking at herself now she found herself enjoying her looks and sighing, if she had cared less about her appearance and more about her studies she might have been closer to her father.

Kami did she miss her parents. Leaving her toweled hair down she crawled into her bed and pulled the covers up high.

She always felt beautiful on the outside, and it was the outside of her that guys liked, but she didn't feel beautiful on the inside as she remembered every horrid thing she had shouted at her father about his working in Torture & Interrogation. Biting her lip she held back the tears of the memories as she surrendered to sleep then.

Why did Sai call her Beautiful and Sakura Ugly?

She was really the ugly one, at least that's how she felt when she remembered her parents.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	30. Part 1: Chapter 30

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 30**

Gently nudging his door open Sai looked in to see Sakura sitting against the wall quietly crying and he sighed as she looked up at him with wet green eyes.

"Ugly?" he said as he walked over to her and stood there looking down at her.

"Hey Sai," she smiled as she leant back and wiped her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he stared down at her.

"Well... I, I needed to somewhere I knew no one would look for me, and that… well, here I am," she mused and he just stared at her. "Sorry about this."

He couldn't say anything to her, he rarely saw her sitting there broken and crying, and it wasn't really a sight or an expierence he was accustomed to as he slowly moved to sit beside her. Sai didn't really know how to comfort her, Sakura wasn't one who sought comfort; but a book had said to hold a sad person's hand to let them know they weren't alone. Which is exactly what he did then as he hesitantly took her hand from her lap. Slowly she leaned on him.

"It's alright, Ugly," he tried to assure her. He could safely guess that this had something to do with the traitor and the traitor leaving since he knew that had been this morning.

"I know…" she mumbled. "I just… needed a minute."

He nodded then, though she couldn't see him. Sai knew what it was to need a moment to one's self, he had needed a long one after seeing Shin's reanimated self and hearing everything Shin had to say and seeing his brother die again. Yes, he knew what it was to need a moment to one's self.

"I wanted him to go," she whispered. "I want him to find whatever it is that he's been missing. I want him to go find peace and happiness, he deserves it. I just… I didn't think it was going to hurt this much," she whimpered. He squeezed her hand with his then because it felt right.

"Why did you not go with him if it was that important to you?" he asked. She sighed.

"I offered to go," she admitted. There was a pain in him at the thought of her going with the traitor and leaving him behind, but he understood that she really loved the traitor. Sai had asked her many questions about love, and she had gotten so mad at him she had lent him a dozen romance novels she said explained love the best. He still didn't understand it, but he understood that it was important to Sakura and that she loved the traitor.

"It is very possible that he would like to understand himself without distractions around," he offered. He felt her nod against his shoulder.

"Thanks for letting me stay Sai," she said after a while.

"You have a key," he blandly reminded her; she was the first he had given a key to his place to and it was because she was his friend. Sakura gave a soft chuckle then and he was right about her welcome.

"I'm going to go to the hospital, no doubt Tsunade and Shizune have a tone of work that needs attention and help, and I'm thinking of starting up a child's clinic to help war torn children so we doing have a repeat of Sasuke or Obito," she said swiftly as she stood. Sai released her hand as she smiled at him, he stood then.

"You are allowed here any time you need Ugly," he said and she hugged him then. Sai stiffened, but he slowly and uncertainly reciprocated the hug and for a moment he enjoyed knowing he had a true friend in this moment and he was sorry she was so overwhelmed by everything.

"I'm sorry for being a crappy friend lately, but thanks for being a great friend," she said, and he wanted her as she darted off and disappeared before he could protest. He'd talk to her about everything that was going on with him about Beautiful later, when she wasn't so strung out or worn down or exhausted. He was rather fond of Ugly, but even he knew there were limits to what she would be able to handle at a time.

With that in mind he peeled off his uniform and walked into his closet of a bathroom for a quick shower which would help him feel better about the punch to the gut Kiba had deliver. He groaned when he felt it and wondered why he hadn't asked Ugly to heal it while she was here but that didn't matter as he slowly scrubbed the grim off. It was tiring, whatever was going on with Beautiful was tiring.

Once he completed his shower he wrapped one of his plain white towels around his hips and stared out at the park through his tiny window. Rubbing his aching hand he decided to paint. Which had him pulling on his plain black sweats, then a white t-shirt as he set up the easel, the canvas, he picked up the brushes he wanted and grabbed all the colors he had as he sat down and started thinking about what to paint.

Swiftly his hand and fingers started moving over the canvas in practiced strokes; there was a point it was simply muscle memory and his body knew what to paint even when his mind didn't.

Working swiftly he painted what he was seeing in his mind's eye, occasionally looking out the window and continuing his work. he finished the painting and left it to dry, it was early in the morning as dawn was breaking the surface of the park. He was exhausted now, he radioed Ibiki that he wasn't feeling well, checked the blackening bruise o n his paper white gut and then he fell onto his bed.

Emotions were complicating his life, he didn't really understand why that was though.

* * *

Ino walked into headquarters, waved at the receptionous as she sauntered on through the office area of the Intelligence Unit. It was kind of a joke that there was an office building and below there was the prisons, the secret entrances, and the interrogation and torture rooms. She was humming a sunny tune which had been stuck in her head since she had turned on the radio while making her breakfast.

People were calling her princess, and she just let them because nicknames in the T&I were kind of funny; Ibiki was called Masochist, she was call Princess, her father had been called the White Knight; it was a joke, but it put the enemies at ease, and then they destroyed their enemy. Still, she was in a sunny mood as she walked towards Ibiki's official office area, which was in the center of the dungeon area, she was kind of curious what was so important that he was calling her in rather than she and Sai meeting up and going to work.

"Morning Ibiki!" she said as she walked in and sat in the chair across from him.

"You're in a cheerful mood today, princess," he said.

"No, not really, I just have a song stuck in my head and it was cheerful," she hummed and smiled brightly at him when he shot her a skeptical look.

"Sai called in sick, said he was exhausted, and I have to honor his request to take leave, so you're not coordinating security today, today you'll start interrogating the captured terrorists from yesterday. I don't want the Uchiha blind in what he's dealing with and we'll be extracting information today and relaying it. If you're up for that."

"Of course, I'm up for that," she assured her mentor.

"Good, also, the guys and I are going drinking tonight; in light of everything that's happened these past few months I'm going to say you should come; we're holding a special get together to remember Inoichi," ibiki said. She stiffened at the mention of her father but nodded.

"I would really like to come," she admitted.

"Good, now, let's walk and talk," Ibiki said as he stood up, Ino was quick to follow him.

"Subject A, pain stimuli is not something he can feel, so far as we have been able to gather he is a former Cloud shinobi who was brainwashed during the war, the Cloud has refused to cooperate and help us with identifying him, so we have hit a brick wall," Ibiki said as he handed her the file of the medical observations.

Quickly she flipped through the notes and the observations, she held up the x-rays to examine them and she saw what made them sure he was a Cloud shinobi. It was just the style of healing; though if someone like Tsunade or Sakura healed someone there was no lasting signs of it on the skeleton, but there were few medics on that level of skill; to hide bone evidence.

"He's definitely the Cloud, at least according to how these breaks were set and healed, but these," she motioned to the new ones on his arm. "That's the Rain's style of setting a bone; crude and primitive, if I had to say I'd think a civilian did this with no chakra healing," she explained. "Then dental though; he's definitely a Cloud shinobi."

"We have figured that much out," Ibiki said.

"Yeah, but I think he ditched before the war, this break predates the war by at least a month, look at the remodling, and there's no wounds from the war period; at least from what I can tell; that might be why the Cloud won't tell you who he is," she said and Ibiki looked at her thoughtfully.

"Good catch princess," he chuckled.

"Thank you," she curtsied a bit.

"Don't let it go to your head, you're still a rookie," he snapped.

"I am here to learn," she promised and continued walking down the hall with Ibiki. They got to the room and she finished the file, handing the file back to Ibiki she took a steadying breath. He nodded to her and they walked into the room.

"You have been a very bad shinobi, ditching before the war; and here I thought you were M.I.A. because of the war," Ibiki boomed. The man's silver eyes snapped open and Ino followed her mentor's gate as she circled him. her chakra was pulsing as she gently assessed his mind so he didn't feel her invasion.

"What, bring the little girls in here now to break real shinobi," the man sneered.

"Did you hear that princess?" Ibiki demanded.

"I did, and I don't think I'm all that little with a C-cup breast size," she replied icily as she sat across the man.

"Well come here and let me feel, I'll tell you if you really are a C-cup or not," he purred. Ibiki slammed the man's head into the table.

"That wasn't very gentleman like," Ibiki snapped.

"Ow, what the fuck, is this your father!?" the bloodied man shouted.

"You wish, you see, the Masochist here, he's far worse than my father, my father would simply kill you swiftly for that response, but the Masochist, he'll kill you slow; after I'm through with you," she chuckled and smiled innocently as she rested her chin on her interlaced fingers.

"And what could you possibly be capable of princess?" the man sneered.

"You'll wish the Masochist had gotten the information he wanted out of you through torture rather than what I'm about to do to you," she promised.

The man looked confused, she grabbed his temples, smiled maliciously and she surged her soul into his body, he screamed but then collapsed and Ino stood there in his brain.

Looking around she was quick to pulling the information she needed. There was no secrets from her as she effortlessly moved to break the genjutsus in his mind, and the blockers set up to protect his mind. Unless one was very aware of their mind then there was no keeping her out.

She shattered everything as she ripped the information she needed free.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	31. Part 1: Chapter 31

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 31**

It was the sound of a knock on her door. Groaning she slowly sat up to look around, she sighed as her hands slid through her hair. Swinging her feet to the floor she walked to her door. She felt like she had been run over by a boulder, it was a headache that had her wincing as she walked to the door.

"Coming," she called out and slowly she opened the door. "Oh, hey Chōji, come in."

"Are you alright Ino?" he asked as he walked in, she yawned.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine, just a bit chakra depleted and tired," she admitted as she shut her door and followed her grumbling stomach to the fridge then. she settled on pudding, pulling it out she offered some for Chōji, he turned her down.

"So what's up?" she asked.

"Um, is… is it too soon to ask a girl out on a date?" he asked, she spun around to stare at him, and saw him blushing then.

"You wanna ask someone out!?" she gleefully shouted as she darted over to the couch.

"Uh… maybe?" he replied, and Ino felt excitmemnt bubbling up in her as she stared at him.

"Oh this is exciting!" she squealed; it was like hearing her little brother had a crush, juicy details of life! "You must tell me who she is, how long have you been crushing on her, and what she does!" Ino demanded; it was time for a thorough check out on her 'brother's' crush. "Chōji I'm not going to bite, but this is exciting!"

"Um… it's Karui," he said and she felt all joy killed, but Chōji didn't need to know this as she kept the smile in place. "I know you don't like her! But she's been really nice to me and she's pretty!" Chōji blurted out quickly.

"You're right," she admitted then and saw his sadness at her statement before continuing. "I don't like her, but it doesn't matter what I think, all that matters is how she makes you feel. If she makes you happy then I can live with it, and if she breaks your heart, I get to break her!" she mused evilly as she thought of the last few days in Torture & Interrogation and what she could do to that redheaded bitch.

"Uh… Ino?" Chōji said nervously and she smiled innocentl then.

"Hm? Sorry, how long have you liked her?" said turning the topic onto something a little more appropriate for Chōji rather than her malicious train of thought.

"Uh… since I bumped into her at the bathhouse," he admitted with a very red blush and she chuckled.

"Alright, well, I don't know Chōji," she said answering the original question he had had when he had arrived at her place. "It depends entirely on if you're ready for a relationship, and if she is, there is no 'right time; to ask a girl on a date, there's only what feels right and if you're ready."

"How do I know then?"

"Well, each girl is different, I have a date with Kiba this coming Tuesday since all the Kage leave on Sunday, Temari and Shikamaru are going to be going on a date next Friday too, Tenten might never want to date again, Sakura won't be dating; she might flirt but she won't date, and Hinata is the marrying typre; and that's alright. I don't know about Karui, but you can only follow your heart in this matter," she said softly as she thought about her coming date.

"You have a date with Kiba?" he blinked in shock and she chuckled.

"Yeah, but it feels… alright," she said uncertainly as she munched on the rice pudding. "Does it feel like now is the time to ask Karui out?"

"Uh… I don't really know, she's leaving soon though," he said.

"True, she is leaving. But Chōji, do you feel ready for the possibility of getting in a relationship as you stand right now?"

"No," he shook his head.

"Are you and Karui friends?"

"Yes."

"Then wait a bit, if she's the one for you then no matter when you ask her she will say yes; besides, you are the sweetest, most genuine guy there ever was. If she says no to you then she's a bigger idiot and bitch than I ever thought possible," Ino stated seriously.

"What if… what if she dates someone else?" he mumbled.

"Then she's dating someone else, and she's stupid. But Chōji, you have to be ready for the commitment of asking her out because it might be more, so if you're not ready for that yet then wait a bit. When you feel more confident about it you should ask her out."

"Thanks Ino, I know you don't like her…" he said softly.

"Well, her stabbing my best friend not once, but twice, is enough reason for me to dislike her, but if you like her… Chōji, if she's the one that makes you happy then I will learn to like her, it won't be easy but I can learn to like her," she assured him gently.

"Thank you Ino," he sighed.

"No problem," she said with a toss of her long hair. "Anything else you want to talk to me about?"

"I was also trying to figure out what I should do since you're now in Intelligence, and Shikamaru is going to be a diplomat for the Leaf," he said shyly and she chuckled.

"Well, what do you love?" she asked.

"I don't know," he admitted and she hopped to her feet then.

"We're going to need wine for this conversation," she decided and walked over to her fridge where she was keeping a cheap bottle of red wine and pulled it out. Pouring herself and Chōji a glass and bringin the bottle with her she sat down and handed it to him.

"I was saving this for a special occasion," she warned her friend as they toasted and started drinking.

* * *

The pounding on his door was relentless as he came too. Two weeks of watching out for a determined Ino was exhausting, not to mention there had been the Sakura thing and now he was standing as he rubbed a hand over his face and tried to wake up. Opening his door he was startled to see himself looking in the bright blue eyes of dickless.

"Hey Sai," he grinned.

"Uh… come in?" he said uncertainly as he stepped aside for Naruto and his friend walked into the place. He was so fucking tired, and now he was dealing with his friends.

"Um… I just…"

"What is it dickless?" he asked as he walked over to the coffee maker Ino had bought him when he had moved back into his apartment; insisting it was a vital part of living. He didn't disagree with her.

"Sakura and I sort of got in a fight and now she's avoiding me or not talking to me or something," Naruto said, Sai offered him a mug of coffee as they sat at the battered table Sai had picked for his place.

"Ugly is very busy at the hospital, I doubt she is avoiding you," he assured Naruto. The blonde blinked.

"She's is?"

"Yes, Tsunade and Shizune have work for her, she is also starting a child's clinic," he said as he recalled the conversation he had had with Ugly earlier this week about where she was. He was also intending to talk to her about what was going on with Beautiful but not right now. First he had to survive the Kage's summit, and then there was the talk with Kakashi he needed to have about integrating the Root members into the ANBU, there was also the required training that would take, and mapping out all of Danzo's surviving tunnels for Kakashi because the Hokage should be aware of his village. There was much to be done before he genuinely worried about what Beautiful did to his heart and mind. "Also, you and Ugly fight all the time, you'll just make up like always."

"Yeah… I don't think so; not this time, I think we both crossed lines we weren't supposed to cross," he sighed and Sai's eyes narrowed on Naruto.

"Dickless, you will patch things up with Ugly," he said firmly and Naruto gulped the scalding coffee.

"Sai, this time she has to apologize," Naruto snapped.

"According to Beautiful women are always right, so you should just go apologize to her before her anger is worse," Sai said.

"No! And since when did being a girl make her right!?"

"That was my question as well seeing as how genetailia do not have anything to do with arguments, but women are always right, and very confusing," Sai admitted.

"You got that right," he grumbled.

"Just go talk to Ugly, you will feel better," he suggested.

"Sai, she cares more about Sasuke than what I felt so… no," Naruto snapped.

"Now you are just being childish, Ugly loves you both, in different ways, and she loves me, she doesn't always choose Sasuke over you as well, I remember her lying to you to go kill Sasuke and free you of a promise to her," Sai pointed out and he saw Naruto frown.

"That wasn't… that wasn't what happened," Naruto said uncertainly.

"Isn't it? Ugly told you she loved you and ran off to go kill Sasuke while you were safe, she does choose you over the traitor often Naruto, but this time she chose the traitor," Sai said.

"You know, you're pointless to talk to," Naruto sighed.

"You came here," he pointed out and stood as he finished his coffee. Perhaps he should go to the art shop, he had run out of oil pastels after this week, and he wanted to draw and color; not paint. Or perhaps he should dabble with watercolors… it had been a long time since he had painted with watercolors.

"Sai, could you… could you just keep an eye on her, you know, make sure she's really alright," Naruto asked uncertainly.

"No, I have other tasks to work on, and Ugly is perfectly capable of taking care of herself, as you should know," Sai pointed out. Naruto sighed.

"Worthless," he huffed.

"I do not see how I am the worthless one when I am not the one who had had the fight with Ugly," Sai countered.

"You could just be a good friend to her or try!" Naruto snapped.

"Ugly already told me I have been a great friend to her, perhaps you should go talk to her," Sai stated again as he walked over to his supplies and started checking them over as he ignored the throbbing of his hand and counted what he was going to need.

"Fine! Fine! But I'm not apologizing to her!" Naruto huffed and stalked out the apartment. Sai shook his head, he would never understand Ugly and dickless' relationship. It was just far too confusing and baffling and maddening. It was enough to have him wanting to tear his hair out sometimes.

Grabbing some money and his jacket he walked out into October and walked to the artshop.

"Hello!" a voice chimed when he walked in and the bell rung.

"Hello Asami," he greeted and the brunette with blue eyes popped up from behind the counter and smiled.

"Hey Sai! I haven't seen you for a while," she chuckled.

"I have been busy, how have you been?" he asked trying to keep to the social norms of a small talk conversation.

"I have been doing very well, how about you?" she asked him.

"I have been satisfactory," he said as he picked up what he needed and put it before her.

"That's good to hear, hey there's an art competition coming up this month, why don't you enter something?" she asked.

"I did not know there were competitions of art," Sai said.

"Yeah, they're getting all ready for the Rinne Festival, the winning pieces are displayed in the center of the festival stalls," Asami explained.

"I have never been to the Rinne Festival," he admitted.

"Oh… well… if I don't have a date, want to go with me? I know that it's not until December, but still, make plans now with how busy November gets…" she chuckled nervously.

"Um…" Sai stood there frozen. "I need to talk to Ugly first."

"Who's Ugly?" she asked. He just paid, grabbed his things and left without another word with how unsure he felt now it was wise to escape before making a fool of himself.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	32. Part 1: Chapter 32

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 32**

Ino had prepared herself for her date by buying a new dress, something simple, and a new pair of shoes. She was going to wear her T&I jacket; it was warm, and beautiful, and why the hell wouldn't she wear it!?

After a night of drinks with the guys in honor of her father she was fairly confident she was making the right choice for her to be in Intelligence.

Anyways, tonight she pulled a black mini dress over her body, wore black heels, let her long blonde hair fall down her back loosely, and was now sliding red lipstick over her lips as she put the finishing touches to her look. No doubt she was going to freeze her skinny ass off in this because it was October, but she was going to look sexy. Give Kiba something to fantasize about. There was a knock on her door as she picked up a simple gold pendant necklace and clasped it around her neck. Smiling to herself she walked to the door and opened it.

"Hey, oh wow, you look…" Kiba stood there dressed nicely and she smirked feeling his eyes wander over her.

"You never said where we were going," she purred and he stared at her.

"Just a little place I know," he managed and gulped. "Aren't you cold in… that?"

"Mm, that is for me to know," she mused and grabbed her jacket before locking the door and sauntering off with Kiba, she took a step or two ahead of him down the stairs and felt his eyes on her as she swung her hips.

"Coming?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah," he shook himself out of his stupor and she internally did a happy dance. Her inner goddess was singing her praises as she walked with Kiba through Konoha. He was looking rather smug as he walked beside her and chuckled at his obvious 'this is my date' look when other guys looked her over. Ino had long since learnt she was beautiful, and she had learnt how to utilize that to have men's heads turning. Arriving at the restaurant she was a bit miffed when Kiba did not get her chair or take her jacket, but refrained from saying anything as she was seated. The waiter stammered when she smiled at him.

"So, Kiba, tell me about yourself," she purred as she read over the menu and settled on a good simple meal that didn't make her look vain, but would fill her appetite; she had missed lunch because of work today and she was starving, but she never looked like a pig on a date.

"Uh…" he stammered.

"What's your favorite color? What's your favorite food? What do you want in life? What do you currently do? Do you wish to remain a shinobi?" she clarified for him.

"I don't have a favorite color, but my favorite scent is lavender and mint, my favorite foods are beef, steak, jerky, and cartilage, I want to become head of my clan, and I hope to become head of the ANBU Hunting & Tracking Unit where I currently work, and yes, with Akamaru as my ninken," he said.

"Interesting," she mused as she ordered.

"And you?" he asked.

"Me what?" she teased as she smiled.

"What's your favorite color, food, ect.? What do you want in life? What do you currently do? And do you wish to remain a shinobi?" he asked.

"Mm, my favorite color is purple, my favorite food is cherry tomatoes and pudding. I want love, a home and family, I am currently head of my clan and work in Intelligence, and I hope one day to be in charge of Intelligence, and yes," she said as she leant back and smiled at the blushing waiter again when she was served her meal and looked at Kiba's glare on the boy.

"You actually want to work in Intelligence?" he asked dumbfoundedly.

"Well, it is a good match, and I've found I have an unusual knack for it, what about you? did you always want to be in Hunting & Tracking?" she asked.

"Yeah," he grinned. "I do have the best nose of my clan, ever, and I am a born hunter!"

Dinner was fun, they chatted about a lot of things and she was shocked to learn they had the same tastes in music, literature, and movies; which was a nice change of pace for her as she talked with Kiba about everything. However, she tactfully left the topic of what she did for a living alone because he seemed… repulsed whenever she spoke of Intelligence and she kind of wanted a good date for the night. Kiba walked her home after paying for their meal, she pulled out her key.

"I had a lovely night," she admitted.

"That's great, you want to go out again?" he asked her.

"Certainly, Thursday after next week?" she asked.

"Works for me!" he grinned; she didn't mention she was scanning his mind for hints as to when to set up the date.

"Perfect," she smiled and walked up to him. There was a predatory way he watched her and she lightly pressed her lips to his. There was a little spark there, it wasn't the raging flame the romances spoke of but there was a spark there.

"Thank you for the date," she whispered seductively as she pulled away and walked into her apartment leaving him there stunned. She waited a beat, analyzed herself and decided that there was something there to pursue as she kicked off her shoes, pulled off her jacket and hung it up before walking to her room for a hot shower and bed.

Once she was dressed in her favorite, new silk nighty she braided her long hair and smiled as she fell asleep feeling a bit lighter than she had been feeling. She was just going to enjoy Kiba for a bit and see where that went. It could be something, and she was craving that something.

* * *

Sai was reading in the library for hints because he was so out of his league that it wasn't even funny. He did not know how to handle a date!? and he didn't know if he even liked the art shop girl; Asami that way. Groaning he dragged his hands through his hair and stared blankly at the page of the book on understanding women he was reading and he felt like banging his head against a steel wall.

Sighing he shut the book and rubbed his exhausted eyes.

If he could find Ugly he'd be talking with her about this oddity; but he didn't know where she was since she wasn't at her apartment or hospital. She could have requested a mission, but he doubted it as he stared at the book.

"Sai?" a lazy voice had him turning to see Kakashi walking in.

"Hokage," he nodded.

"It's Kakashi Sai," the Captain of Team 7 clarrified as he sat with him.

"Kakashi," he corrected.

"What's got you bothered?" Kakashi asked as he picked up the book Sai had been reading. Sai groaned as he covered his eyes.

"Girl problems?" Kakashi mused.

"I do not know, and that is the confusing thing," he admitted.

"I might be able to help," Kakashi said.

Sai thought this over for a moment and decided Kakashi was a good candidate to speak to about this stuff since he could not find Sakura at this moment. Swiftly he launched into the oddities of what was happening to him when he was around Beautiful, and then he told Kakashi about how Kiba was dating Ino, and he explained the thing with the art chop girl and he admitted he had no fucking clue what he was going to do or what he should even be doing and ended the explanation with a plea to have some long term mission where he was nowhere near the madness of Konoha at this moment.

Kakashi only chuckled, which had him frowning and glaring at Kakashi.

"This is not amusing, it is very confusing!" he snapped.

"Sai, just settle for a moment, the thing with Ino, that's attraction, and you like her. She's a very beautiful young woman, and I've seen her be sweet. That's nothing to be scared of, and is perfectly normal in human beings," Kakashi assured him.

"I do not thing my heart should be doing the funny things," he grouched.

"That's the body's way of telling you it finds someone attractive. And that's not a bad things. Now Kiba is displaying territory and acting rather canine-ish; but the Inuzuka Clan does have canine like behaviors at times. Even Hana and Tsume display the behavior. Kiba sees you as a threat," Kakashi said.

"I do not see why, Ino is my friend," Sai stated firmly; despite whatever oddities she invoked within him she had firmly clarified that they were indeed friends.

"That's not important, the important thing is that he sees you as a threat."

"Fine, illogical but fine!" Sai surrendered.

"And Sai, just take the Asami girl to the Rinne Festival, it could be fun," Kakashi said.

"Yes, but people do not like me," Sai said.

"She obviously likes you if she asked you to go to the Rinne Festival and it's October," Kakashi sighed.

"You do not think this is a bad idea?" he asked.

"No, and I have no long term missions at this moment for you to go on, Sasuke is on the longest mission assignment," Kakashi said.

"I did not think you would have a mission for me yet, but I had hoped," he admitted.

"Sai, this is all normal, just go with it," Kakashi said.

"Why are you here Kakashi?" Sai asked.

"Oh, I came to collect a book on cults, brainwashing, and phycology," Kakahsi sighed.

"Why?"

"These radicles, their minds are warped and I do not understand how a person could get so warped by other peoples' words and beliefs, perhaps in understanding how people are targeted for recruitment into these terror cells we can stop it," Kakashi sighed.

"That is very complicated, the human mind is a confusing thing," Sai admitted.

"Yeah, and when Sakura isn't drowning in work I'm going to ask her help in the matter; her studies in medicine and the child's clinic she's creating would make her ideal in her studies into the human mind." Kakashi admitted.

"That will be tiring but Ugly would be good at it," Sai admitted.

"Exactly, now Sai, go home, rest, and don't worry about the dating thing or the attraction to Ino, just go with it where women are concerned," Kakashi said.

"Fine," he grouched and walked out of the library then. Everything was just so confusing where girls were concerned that it was confounding.

Why couldn't girls just be simple? It would make life easier for people like him who had no idea how to do anything but kill, seduce if needed, and be nothing. Finally he arrived to his apartment, pulling out the tells he walked in, locked up and replaced all the tells before making some coffee and changing into loose clothes. Once he had the coffee he decided that he wanted to paint; who or what he didn't know but he would let his subconscious decide.

Setting up he sat at the canvas and stared at it for a moment. His fingers started moving before he thought about what to paint.

The lines slid over the canvas, the curves started coming to life, the colors brought the image to light, and when he was done the dawn was peeking up and he found himself staring at an image he was painting far too often for his liking.

Blue eyes, silver blonde hair, and a mysterious smile curved as he stared at the face of Beautiful and he felt like it was wrong to paint her when he would go agree to go to the Rinne festival with Asami.

Sighing he left the painting to dry and collapsed on his bed.

What the hell was wrong with him!?

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	33. Part 1: Chapter 33

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 33**

Cornering Temari for her makeover was a matter of mind over matter; and Ino won on the simple base of she'd possess Temari's body and do it all herself because she was not letting Temari look short of gorgeous for this date. It was the only was Ino was going to tolerate Shikamaru when they reestablished the Ino-Shika-Chō bond. Shikamaru was going to be distracted and leaving her work in Intelligence alone.

Which brought her to where she was as she tucked one of her red dresses in subtly to hide some of Temari's slightly smaller parts. She and Temari were near the same size in every way, however the moment Ino had got Temari in this dress she discovered that the Suna kunoichi had smaller breasts, and a bit less hip than herself.

"Ino this is ridiculous," Temari sighed.

"No it's not! And you and I are about the same size, and you'll look devastating in red!" Ino shot back as she continued her little alterations. Narrowing her eyes she realized Temari was broader in the shoulder and chest department than herself. Sighing she frowned.

"You're not prying in my head right now, right?" Temari asked suddenly and Ino avoided jabbing her with a needle.

"Nope," she assured; she was too focused on her task at hand to pry. "I'm trying really hard not to do that," she admitted as she felt like her eyes were crossing.

"Done?"

"Nearly perfect…" she assured and tied the knot as she cut the needle away and stepped back to examine her handy work. "Done! Take a look!" she ordered eagerly.

"I look ridiculous," Temari sighed.

"Not at all, you look beautiful, and when I'm finished with your hair and makeup Shikamaru's tongue will be on the ground," Ino predicted deviously. Temari sighed.

It was a good thing Temari was reading a book, Ino was fighting this naturally crimped, frizzed hair furiously as she got it to submit into her will so it looked smooth and fluid like water.

"Alright…" Ino sighed after hours of working that hair into submission and taking a precautionary step away as a test to watch that hair. "Hair is done, but no touching!"

"Good Kami Ino! Is this real?" Temari gasped as she reached for the hair, Ino slapped her friend's hand away.

"Yes, and I'm serious about the 'no touch', your hair is worse than Sakura's," Ino snapped.

"Are we done now?"

"No, now it is time for makeup, but not to worry, it's only a little to highlight your best features," Ino assured her.

"And men fall for this?" Temari asked.

"All the time," Ino chuckled and remembered the fun she had had as a teen and dressing up to hear the boys fall after her. "You'd be surprised what looking sexy could do to a man."

"So how's that date with dog boy go?" Temari asked as Ino worked.

"Splendid, I agreed to see him again, granted that's in November, but still; we have a lot in commone and it could be something, so I'll try," she said firmly.

"And Sai?"

"We're still friends," she smiled, she was meeting up with Sai this evening after she finished up with Temari.

"I thought you two were a thing," Temari said.

"No," she whispered and felt her face heating up. Her and Sai? A thing? That was just… ridiculous, but still she felt her heart fluttering at the thought. She dismissed it as a case of purely one sided physical attraction which was something she could ignore. If Sai wasn't Sai, and he happened to be interested in her, she'd leap at the chance to date a guy like him. Kiba hadn't even gotten the door for her, or her chair or taken her jacket.

Damn it! She wasn't the damsel in distress type but some courtesy would be appreciated!

Still, she could train him…

"Uh-huh," Temari replied.

"Lips now," she said changing the subject.

"Is this necessary?" Temari asked in exasperation.

"Just shut up and do it, or I'll possess your body and do it myself; don't think I won't," she warned flatly. The older woman sighed but did her own lips and Ino looked her masterpiece over carefully then.

"I'm going to freeze!" Temari sighed.

"Here!" Ino said as she pulled out her white coat and handed it to the other kunoichi before pitching Temari out of her apartment. She watched as Temari walked down the street and smirked when one young shinobi saw her and gawked; Ino's work was done.

Grabbing her Intelligence coat she ran out of her apartment and started for Sai's. It was going to be nice seeing him again, and he had promised to cook saying he had found a new recipe in one of the books at the library that he wanted to try. Grinning she jogged up the stairs to his apartment and knocked.

"Open," he called out and she walked in.

"Hey! It's a bit brisk out there!" she shivered as she walked into his warm apartment and smelt something burning as Sai furiously moved about his kitchenette.

"Sorry about this Beautiful, I do not cook often," he said as he finished up. She just chuckled.

"That's alright, no everyone has time to cook," she dismissed.

"I burnt the toast," he sighed.

"Well, Sakura burns everything, and she grew up in a bakery so I bet it'll be fine Sai," Ino assured him as she flopped into a seat at his table and started thumbing through one of his sketchbooks enjoying the lives he was capturing.

"Here," he said and placed it before her.

"Thank you!" she smiled and straightened up a bit to eat as she set aside his sketchbook.

Sai quickly joined her after turning everything in the kitchenette off.

"Tastes good," she assured him; and she meant it. It was a bit burnt but for his first real attempt at cooking it was good! And she was starving!

"How are you today Beautiful?"

"Tired, but happy," she started and launched into telling Sai about her day at Intelligence.

* * *

Sai listened to Ino as she explained all the details of what she was learning in T&I and he even asked her a few questions about her work which she elaborated for him. Though he had never found interrogation to be particularly interesting he was pleased to hear that Ino was enjoying the work she was doing.

"That is interesting," he admitted.

"That's what I thought, and the applications for mapping the brain and mind are endless," she said.

"It could help future shinobi," he pointed out and continued eating.

"Yes, but Ibiki says to take this one step at a time, and I think he's right or I could overwhelm myself," she admitted as she polished off her plate. "That was delicious Sai, thank you."

"How was your date with Kiba?" he asked her as she took her plate to the sink.

"It was pretty good, we have a lot in common, and he's easy to talk to," she said, he handed her his plate when he stood up to the kitchenette. There was a stab of something in his chest but he ignored it. "I'm going to go on another date with him, there's a little something there; who knows, it could be big, right?"

"How do you know?" he asked her.

"How do I know what?" she asked in confussion and he thought about how to ask her.

"How do you know about this 'little something'?" he tried to clarify uncertainly.

"Oh, oh, oh, um… that's attraction Sai, it's chemistry, it's how you click and if you're attracted to someone. There was a little spark there; nothing huge, but I think the romance novels over exaggerate that something a lot of the time, and it could be nice. Besides, Kiba's nice and I could do with nice," she sighed.

"I was asked to the Rinne Festival," he admitted.

"Oh! Yay! Or do I go beat the living snot out of this girl and call Forehead to help me dispose of her body?" Ino asked.

"Why would you need Ugly to help you dispose of a body?"

"Never mind, what'd you say; I know the festival is a ways away but this is important Sai," Ino said as they sat at his table again.

"I did not give her an answer," Sai admitted. He didn't mention that he didn't know if he should say yes because he was young and had never had a girl ask him out and it could could be fun, or if he should say no to avoid the sweet art shop girl hating him and him needing to find a new art shop for supplies; that would never do, it was the closest one!

"Why not?" Ino asked in clear confusion; he mentioned nothing of the oddities he felt around her as he listed his reasons to her and she listened to him.

When he finished she seemed to think this over carefully, and slowly before she spoke again.

"Sai, I might not be the best person to talk to about this, but if you don't like what I have to say about this go talk to Sakura; seriously, I know how tight you two are. But personally, I think you're not accepting her invitation because you're scared, and that's fine, it's a scary thing to do a date. However, not answering her is going to hurt her more than this date being horrible or fantastic, and I doubt she hates you if she asked you to the Rinne Festival; that's a big deal to a girl Sai," Ino assured him.

He just thought this over carefully.

"I think I will speak to Ugly about this and give her a difinative answer," he said carefully.

"That's fine Sai, but be quick about it, this is important to a girl. And if it's the Asami I'm thinking it is, she might not like seeing you when you can't give her an answer," Ino said.

"Understandable," he decided.

"Good."

"Thank you Beautiful," he smiled slightly.

"No problem, you've been there for me when I leapt into Intelligence, and that terrified me, so I'll help you with dating," Ino smiled brightly and his heart did that funny thing again.

"You are a good friend," he decided.

"As good as Sakura!?" she teased.

"No."

"AH!" she balked then started giggling hysterically and now his heart was doing really funny things as he smiled softly at her. It was a real smile to as he watched her.

"Oh Kami," she sighed. "At least you are a brutally honest friend," she chuckled.

"Honesty is the best policy, I read that in the library," he admitted smugly with some pride.

"Depends on the situation, but we'll talk about those later," she chuckled.

"Thank you for coming here tonight," he said.

"No problem, you and I are friends, and we're going to meet up once a week for dinner or something to maintain this friendship," she decided.

He saw the clock and decided he should escort Beautiful to her home.

"You don't have to walk me home Sai," she protested as they left his place and he locked his day.

"It is proper to walk a girl home at night, even if she can take care of herself. Unless it's Ugly, no one is suicidal enough to mess with Ugly," he said solemnly, Ino's cheeks turned pink and they walked to her place. She chattered the entire time, he just listened and wondered when she breathed as they arrived at the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"Hey, thanks for walking me home," Ino shyly muttered as the scaled the stairs to her apartment.

"It is important to me that my friends stay safe," he said swiftly, she giggled a bit a pulled out her key.

"Thanks for everything Sai, I'm glad I have someone to talk to about my work in Intelligence," she said as she opened her door.

"You listen to me," he pointed ou.

"True, night Sai," she smiled and left him. He walked home humming a happy tune.

* * *

 **Just Be Patient! ;) I have a plan!**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	34. Part 1: Chapter 34

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 34**

Tonight, was the night, yes, tonight. Tonight, everything would go back to how it was supposed to be, how it was always supposed to be, and now that Shikamaru was thoroughly distracted by Temari.

Did she feel guilty about manipulating Shikamaru and Temari?

No.

She knew she should feel guilty about it but she couldn't. Shikamaru had had a quiet crush on Temari for years, since they had first met in that arena. And since Temari reciprocated the crush to some extent she was just… maneuvering them to be together. If this worked in the long run; and she had no doubt that it could, and likely would because they just… fit, then they would thank her for it one day. But she still had to prove herself right as she cooked a feast for Chōji and Shikamaru.

There was a knock, a quick flare of her chakra told her that it was Chōji.

"Come in Chōji!" she called out and heard him enter.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Shikamaru will be here soon," she said as she continued to move around the kitchen finishing up her cooking.

"Wow," he gasped.

"I know, but you don't eat it before dinner," she said as she put another dish on her table. Chōji nodded. Again her door opened and she heard Shikamaru's thoughts in her apartment, all centering around Temari and a kiss.

"Hey Shikamaru," she called out.

"Hey," Shikamaru replied and Chōji left her then as he talked with Shikamaru. Finishing her serving as the boys sat she smiled then.

"So how'd your date go?" she asked as she slyly looked at Shikamaru and saw a blush grace his cheeks.

"Fine," he answered. Her eyes narrowed on him but she knew she had won because his mind revolved around the thought of a kiss.

"Uh-huh. Look, this time around the rules are simple, we're not going to pick at what we do or who we're seeing; even if we don't like the person, and we're going to be supportive. Nearly six months without you guys, and miss you." she said and saw her boys look uncertain.

"Fine, however, if we don't like someone who we're seeing we're allowed to at least say it," Shikamaru countered. She thought this over and nodded.

"Deal, and no more conversations about sex lives," she declared.

"It was one thought Ino!" Shikamaru argued with her, her eyes narrowed on him.

"Uh-huh, but the point is that you thought it," she snapped.

"What a drag," he sighed.

"I like the terms," Chōji piped up then.

"Good, now, I will reestablish our bond, but first; Shikamaru; I'm dating Kiba," she stated and saw Shikamaru's head snap up then.

"You're dating Kiba!?" he sputtered.

"Yes, and you'll be supportive or I keep us severed until you go insane," she snapped.

"Kiba's great," Shikamaru lied and she smirked into her drink as she sipped it. This could work again, and she was happy to have her boys back in her life.

After dinner and after having reestablished their Ino-Shika-Chō bond she had fallen on her bed in exhaustion. It was always draining to her to have to reestablish mental links that shouldn't have been severed in the first place. Staring at her ceiling she sighed, she had done the right thing; she could feel that as she felt Shikamaru and Chōji in the back of her mind again.

Closing her eyes she tried to relax to catch her breath for a moment when there was a knock on her door which had her frowning a bit as she sat up.

"Hey Ino," a voice called out and she smiled a little.

There was no heart flutters, there was no warmth filling her at the sound of his voice, but she was a little happy to hear that voice after the evening she had had.

"Hey," she opened the door and looked into his slitted eyes as she smiled at him.

"I was wondering how you were doing," Kiba said.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired, come in," she said and gestured for him to walk into her apartment. He hesitated for a moment before he did and she shut the door after him. "I have an early day tomorrow but I have left overs if you want something to eat," she said.

"No, I'm good," he said and his eyes narrowed.

"What is it?" she asked as she sat on her couch.

"Nothing, it just… it smells like Shikamaru and Chōji," he said.

"Well, yeah, they're my best friends and we had dinner tonight, here," she dismissed and Kiba sat with her on the couch then.

"Do you do that often?" he asked.

"Dinner? I try to do it every night," she said.

"Eat with other men," he said.

"Kiba, I have a lot of guys who are my friends, Ibiki, Sai, Shikamaru and Chōji," she sighed.

"I don't like it," he said.

"Kiba, I'm tired, I've had a long day and I have a long one tomorrow, if you're only here to tell me you don't like me hanging out with my friends I'm going to tell you right now I will kick you out," she warned seriously.

"Fine, how are you today?" Kiba said.

"I'm well, how about yourself?" she asked as she rubbed her brow and listened to Kiba tell her about his day. She tried to be attentive, but she regretfully found herself wanting to kick his ass out of her apartment to get some sleep. When he finished talking to her he left and she yawned as she stumbled to her bed.

Dropping to the mattress she sighed as she curled up and shivered slightly as she stared out her window at the night lights of Konoha.

She would just keep on going, that was the only way she was going to make it, she supposed as she closed her eyes, shut her mind off and let the sleep she craved drag her into dreams with an inky figure.

* * *

Sai found himself surviving October, and November came blowing in with a biting edge reminding him again why he did not like the cold as his hand throbbed and he found himself focusing on his work. Kakashi had him in charge of a division of ANBU over the former Root members.

And then last week he had run into Sakura and asked her to dinner next Tuesday, and smiled when she said she'd bring Naruto as well. Strangely he was alright with that idea, he wanted to catch up with dickless and Ugly at the same time. It would be a nice change for him.

However, this first week of November he hurried through the crowds to the art shop with an answer for Asami in mind.

He would just say yes, it was not as if he had a reason to say no, and he was curious as to what a Rinne Festival was like; he had never been. There was always a mission to go on, or there was a reason for him to stay home, or there was simply no desire to go. However, he was rather curious now as he heard everyone talking about it.

Walking to the shop's door he opened it, the bell jangled as he stepped in and he reveled in being a warm shop rather than the bitter cold of the streets.

"Hello," a voice called out.

"Hello," he greeted and Asami's brown head popped out from the back office.

"Sai! It's so good to see you!" she smiled.

"Yes, if you would still like to go, yes," he said awkwardly as he felt his fingers twitching in his pockets.

"Really? You want to go to the Rinne Festival with me?" she asked.

"Yes, I have never been," he admitted as he walked over to the counter and looked around the bright girl.

"This will be so much fun!" she declared and she bounced. Sai was still completely baffled as to why this was so important but it was clearly very important to the girl.

"You will not regret it!" she promised as she smiled.

"I do not know," he admitted.

"Alright, the Rinne Festival is in six weeks from now, and we'll arrange where to meet when the time is closer," she said.

"Oh," he managed.

"Have you entered your art in the contest!?" she asked.

"No," he said.

"You should, I bet you're really good; you're always here," she chuckled and he faked a smile.

"No," he said with a shake of his head. His art… he did not mind sharing it with his friends, but he was not going to have a stranger gaze upon it and judge it when they could not understand the meaning behind it. Even he did not always understand the meaning behind his art, just that it was important to him.

"Alright," she said and stepped back when he frowned.

"Thank you," he said and quickly gathered the needed supplies as he stepped up to the counter. Paying what he owed she handed him a number, said to call her and he said he would, before he left her.

It felt… weird, to be saying yes to her but he did not think that this could be all that bad. It was not as if he was going to always go to the Rinne Festival and just this once would not be a bad thing. He doubted Ugly was going to go, she would probably say she was busy, and he did not want to go with Beautiful since Kiba was laying claim to the blonde; so to speak. And there was no one else he could think to go with, and Kami knew going with dickless was a bad idea; he'd end up in trouble for something before the end of the night.

So he did not think it to be so bad that he was going to go with a civilian girl who had asked him.

Walking up to his apartment he was relieved when he stepped into the warmth of the place and set his supplies up.

There was a knock on his door and he was quick to get it.

"Sai, there's been an incident, the Hokage requests your immediate presence," a masked shinobi said.

"Yes," he nodded and then he walked back into his apartment as he grabbed his gear, pulled on his uniform then his mask and performed the transportation jutsu to the Hokage's office. He was greeted by three others.

"Hokage," he bowed to Kakashi.

"Good to see you could join us," Kakashi said.

"Yes Hokage," he nodded seeing the other three men here.

"There has been an incident in Tetsu no Kuni, investigate it discreetly," Kakashi ordered.

"What is it?" Sai asked.

"Uchiha Madara followers, they are being led by a former member of Root," Kakashi said as Sai accepted the scroll handed to him.

"Discreetly remove the problem," Kakashi ordered.

"Yes Hokage," Sai bowed with his comrades and then they bolted before they could be stopped. Sai hoped he returned in time for that dinner with Ugly and dickless as they left the village and hurried northwest for Tetsu no Kini. Pulling his scroll out his brush slid over it as he infused his chakra into the images and brought them to life, his comrades leapt onto their perspective birds, as did he the same. Taking the lead he pulled out the mission scroll.

The image of the rogue-nin had him frowning behind his mask but as did the orders.

Capture Alive or Dead, report to Intelligence for interrogation.

Sai understood what all that meant as he sat there reading over the information needed for this mission. Their target was a man who had information on how these terror networks were forming if they wanted his corpse or live body back for the Intelligence Unit.

Still it bothered him as they continued flying through the chilled November air. This was not going to be an easy mission.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	35. Part 1: Chapter 35

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 35**

"Hey," Naruto grinned as he walked into his place as Sai juggled cooking, Sai found it was fun to work in the kitchen. It was goal oriented and he was good at working for goals, and if it was not burnt it was not bad.

"Hello," Sai smiled as he ducked the flames. "What are you doing Sai?"

"Cooking, oil is flammable," Sai observed.

"No shit," Naruto said, Sai frowned at the pan as the pork sizzled in it.

"Uzumaki Naruto," they both spun at the new voice and he found himself looking at an ANBU man there, his neko mask hiding his identity. "Summons to the Hokage's office, by order of the Fifth and Sixth Hokage," the man held out a scroll.

"Uh… alright," Naruto said as he took the scroll.

"The meeting is right now," the ANBU said sharply.

"Shit!" Naruto bolted as the ANBU disappeared. Sai just looked at the stove and shrugged to himself before working on cooking again. It was a few minutes later that Sakura walked into his place.

"What was that about?" Sakura's voice called out as she walked in.

"I don't know, there was a message for him and now he's gone," Sai shrugged as he started serving up the finished meal and set it before her.

"Huh, thanks," Sakura smiled as she pulled out her chopsticks.

"Of course," he smiled as he sat with her. Now that Naruto was not here he felt like now was a good time to bring it up.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Sakura asked suddenly.

"Um…" he started and sighed, he could just be straightforward about what was happening in his heart and body, it was not as if she would take anything he said wrong. "I've been having… odd?... sensations around Beautiful," he said carefully.

"What kind of odd sensations?" Sakura asked in a medical tone.

"Um… my heart, it does… weird?... things, there's this heat when she's around to, and I… um… I want her company all the time… and other… things…" he trailed off not certain how to phrase this these sensations. Even talking about this to Kakashi was weird.

"Sai," Sakura chuckled. "That's attraction, and liking someone."

"But Ino is dating someone else, why would I feel anything for her beside friendship?" he asked. It was true that Ino was his friend but besides friendship why would he care for her in this way? It did not mean anything to him and he did not understand why this was so… foreign? intense? or heated?... when he was around Ino.

"Attraction does not mean that just because she is dating someone that you aren't interested in her," Sakura said with thought. He frowned at this, it did not make sense to him in anyway. "Who's she dating?"

"Inuzuka Kiba," he answered then.

"Sai, listen to me, be very careful about what you do with Ino. kiba is not a person you want to be on the bad side of, and if she is really involved with Kiba, I am telling you not to cross over the friendship line," she warned him in a tone which left no debate.

Sai internally scowled at his pink friend then. He was not going to date another woman while she was dating or married to someone else; one of his seduction missions had scarred him for life when her partner came walking into the room intent on killing him; and he was a jonin level shinobi of Kirigakure.

"But… I do not understand why her?" he said in exasperation. He had never actually felt this for anyone; not even the art shop girl, and then there was Ino. her presence was something he could zero in on the moment she walked into a room. It had been that way the moment he had been introduced to her.

"That's probably more complicated than we would like but there is so much about this that we could talk about but Sai, I will not teach you to be a homewrecker, so you will not pursue Ino, no matter the attraction," Sakura said. He saw only concern in her eyes, and he decided that this was a topic best left alone until Ino was single, or he encountered this strange phenomenon that was Ino.

"I understand," he admitted. "But I can still be her friend; correct?" he asked in defeat.

"Yes, that is her decision, and yours', but Sai, do not do anything stupid. Ino, is your friend, but nothing more; for now, Sai," she said and he nodded then.

They would talk about this again if or when Ino was single again. He could see that in her eyes and smile; he did not understand her completely.

"I know, I think," he said carefully.

"Good, anything new going on?" she asked.

"I am going to the Rinne Festival with a girl," he admitted.

"Really!? Who!? How long has this been going? And when do I get to meet her?" she demanded.

"The artshop girl, not long, and if you would like to meet her that is up to you," he said.

"Oooo! Alright, I wanna see her!" Sakura smiled and he smiled in return. He was very happy to have a friend like Sakura in his life.

"Does this mean I can be friends with Ino still?" he verified.

"Sai, you're friends with Ino; period. But you can't go about seducing her or acting on the attraction," she warned.

"Good," he nodded. "I do not have many friends."

"Well, you have me, Naruto, Kakashi, Yamato, and now, Ino, and the mystery girl," Sakura smiled.

"I guess," he said as he thought about it.

"Sai, you're a great guy, and you will make more friends as you grow, don't think you won't."

"Thank you Ugly," he smiled.

"Keep calling me Ugly though and I will break you," she growled, he laughed.

"Nicknames build team bonds," he chuckled.

"Oh Kami! Not this again!" she laughed and he felt lighter than he had in weeks.

* * *

Ino was enjoying a quiet meal with Ibiki who had taken her to tonight.

"So what's up Ibiki?" she asked as she savored the wine of the meal as she sat there across from Ibiki.

"Can a man not take a princess out to dinner?" he asked with a smile.

"Mmm, yes, and the princess can love dinner with a masochist," she chuckled.

"I used to come here with your father often, after work, when he wanted a moment to digest what we had done during the day," Ibiki said softly. "I know I didn't promise him to look after you, just offer you a place in T&I. But I've found myself growing fond of you, Ino, you remind me a lot of your father."

"Father always said I favored mother," Ino said softly.

"No, you are very little like Hana. I do not see much of her in you, however, I see a great deal of Inoichi in you," Ibiki said to her and she looked at the table before sighing.

"Father and I had a huge fight before the Pain Assault, I never… I never got a chance to apologize to him or mom…" she whispered.

"Things did move fast after the Pain Attack," Ibiki said. "He loved you a great deal Ino, and if I had a daughter I'd want her to be like you."

"Really? I'm not some useless relic, or prize?" she murmured.

"I never would have let you stay in my unit, regardless of who your father was, if you were useless," he said.

"Good to know," she smiled then.

"I would like for you to be my protégé," he said and she blinked twice then.

"I thought I was," she said carefully.

"You are, but I would like to groom you to take over Intelligence one day. I'm a fucking dinasore Ino, the council will decide to shove me in some dark closet soon and some life, love, and peace yuppie will be given my post and I can't have that. T&I was never meant to be a friendly unit and you have the tenacity, the will, and the strength to keep T&I what it is supposed to be in the Intelligence world. Besides, I've grown fond of you," he smiled.

"Hmm, I…" she started and pondered this carefully. "I like you Ibiki, but I think I am not qualified for that post; yet, can we come back to this in a few years when I'm a kick ass interrogator?" she asked.

"Of course, but know you are going to be groomed," he warned.

"I think I like the idea of specializing for this work," she admitted.

"Good, now, as a man who is coming to look at you as his niece or something I must ask about the rumors of you dating?" he said then.

"Um… yes… his name Inuzuka Kiba," she said with a smile.

"Does he make you happy? Is he good enough for you?" he demanded in his interrogator tone.

"Too early to tell, and he's a good man," she said. "He's in need of some training to treat a girl right, but he's a good guy," she admitted.

"Huh, I guess that would be enough for Inoichi," Ibiki grumbled.

"If you would like to meet him when this is more… real, we could do that," she admitted.

"Good, I would like that," he smiled.

"I would too," she chuckled.

The rest of the dinner was a social event as she enjoyed it and walked home with Ibiki. After she walked into her apartment she pulled off her shoes and let her hair fall down as she walked to her room. Once she wasn't undone she fell on her bed with a sigh.

She liked Ibiki, she liked him a lot, as her mentor, and now as someone she could look too to look out for her. She liked that, it made her feel happy and safer in her life. It also made her feel less alone than she felt, even with her entire clansmen here she could feel alone and Ibiki looking out for her with Sai… it, it made her feel happy and cared for.

Those were two men she could always count on and she found that to be the most important thing in her life at this moment. They weren't as big in her life as Shikamaru and Chōji but they were important to her.

Getting up she started striping the clothes she was wearing as she walked to her shower. It was a long day, and she had had a nice dinner with Ibiki. But she felt a bit grimy.

The knock on her door had her pulling on a robe before walking to the door.

"Yes?" she called out.

"Hey," Kiba's voice called out then.

"Hey," she smiled as she cracked the door open. "What's up?" she yawned.

"I was just wanting to see you," he smiled. "I have a mission coming tomorrow and am leaving, I wanted to ask you to the Rinne Festival before I left, I don't know how long I'll be gone," he said.

"Hmm… yes, I would like that very much," she murmured as she stepped around the door and reached up to lightly press her lips to his. Desperately seeking the something when their lips were pressed together, but it was faint as she fell back on her feet.

"Great!" he grinned and walked away. She sighed at him not saying goodbye to her as she shut her door, flipped her lock and walked back to her shower. Pulling on her shower she shucked her robe before stepping into it and sighing.

It was just exhausting today as she let the shower wash her of it and she washed her hair. Once clean she settled down in her bed and picked up a book to read. Her mind wandered a bit as her eyes grew heavy and then sleep took her.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	36. Part 1: Chapter 36

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 36**

Ino walked with Ibiki through the village, it was a day off and she was enjoying the bustling life of Konoha. Everyone was getting ready for the Rinne Festival, and everything was so festive, she enjoyed it, though the festival wasn't for three weeks.

"Kami, it's so alive!" Ino chuckled as she hurried through the crowded streets with Ibiki.

"Too many visitors for this year's festival, huge security breaches," Ibiki grouched.

"Oh come on Ibiki, we're not in Security, we're in T&I, and we're off for the festival," Ino pointed out.

"Ino, let this be a lesson for you, as a member of T&I, or rather Intelligence as those pussies have renamed us, we're never off duty," Ibiki said. "We are some of the most valuable members of the ANBU forces and Shinobi ranks, never let your guard down."

"We're not in bingo books Ibiki," she pointed out. Not because she didn't believe her mentor but rather because she did not think that Konoha was operating as if they were at war anymore. Besides, with the forming of the Shinobi Union they apparently had to share intel, and that was making the nations more friendly. However, she knew this did not make them friends with their rival shinobi villages, and what intel was selected to be shared could not harm Konohagakura, or Konoha shinobi, or Konoha interests.

"No, but make no mistake Ino, there is a price on your head, and as the up and coming princess of Intelligence they will try to come after you," Ibiki said. "Festivals like this, where the shinobi put their guards down in their village, is a fast way to be snatched. Especially with the village gates being opened to all civilians and foreign shinobi, do not let your guard down. You are very valuable in the wrong hands."

"Understood," she nodded and they continued through the throng of people, she chuckled and spoted Sakura leaving the library.

"Sakura!" she called out, the pinkette turned and she and Ibiki hurried towards her.

"Hey Ino, good afternoon Morino," Sakura smiled.

"Dr. Haruno, I did not think you left the hospital," Ibiki chuckled.

"No, I leave, for a moment a day, mostly so they don't evict me from my apartment," Sakura chuckled. Ibiki barked a laugh and Ino smiled.

"Hey, I was wondering, how would you like to celebrate Christmas with me, Ibiki and invite your family; I was also thinking to invite Temari, Kiba, and Sai," Ino smiled.

"That sounds lovely, I have a surgery on the twenty-third but if all goes well then I will be happy to join you for Christmas." Sakura said tiredly. Ibiki waved her off, and she waved her mentor off as she walked with Sakura.

"Surgery?" she asked.

"Yes, I am performing Tenten's C-section," Sakura filled in and Ino nodded.

"Right, we're having her baby shower next week," Ino said.

"I will be there," Sakura said.

"So is that why you have all these books?" Ino asked.

"Yes, I've been studying everything I can about pregnancies and the C-section, I've been practicing even, though I don't think Dr. Yuno likes me being on his service after he tried to tell Tenten to have a termination of the baby," Sakura sighed.

"He's a dick anyway," Ino dismissed as she remembered the insufferable Dr. Yuno from her time being an apprentice for Tsunade. "He thought I was a nurse and I should sleep with him; even threatened me for if I didn't. I don't think he much liked me in his head."

"He got what he was asking for," Sakura waved off.

"Has he propositioned you?" Ino asked with a wicked amusement.

"Mmm, no, but everyone in this village knows I can break mountains, so imagine what I could do the human skeletal structured if pissed?" she dryly chuckled and Ino giggled.

"That's a good point. Have you seen Sai recently?"

"Yeah, about two weeks ago, why?" she asked.

"No reason, I just hadn't seen him for a bit and was wondering if he was on a mission," Ino admitted.

"Ah, well, no, he has a date for the Rinne Festival, he's been worrying about that, and Kakashi sent him on a short mission to catch an arsonist to take his mind off the date," Sakura said casually.

There was a stab in Ino's gut at those words, Sai had a date, and it hurt her. She had encouraged him to try dating, but to hear he actually had a date… it was something which had her wanting to go commit murder!

"Have you met his date?" Ino asked; she was pretty sure Sai had asked the art shop girl out but wanted to confirm with Sakura.

"No, but from what he's told me, Asami doesn't seem that bad, I'll be meeting her at the Rinne Festival," Sakura shrugged.

"Oh," Ino said lamely. She didn't know what to say, she had briefly met the art shop girl and had thought her sweet but there was the thought of Sai being with another woman which hurt. It also infuriated her and had her wanting to go and torture poor Asami; which was something she wasn't doing. "Do you have a date for the Rinne Festival?"

"No, I think I'm going with Kakasih or Naruto again this year though, if I go, I have a lot of work to do," Sakura sighed.

"I thought you went with Sai," Ino pointed out.

"Last year I did, and it wasn't really planned, Naruto manipulated him and I just went with him. when Naruto was gone I went with Kakashi, and when Naruto and Sasuke were here I went with them, so I will probably be doing the same this year, and Sai has a date, I'm not going with him," Sakura said as they walked down the street.

"I'm going with Kiba," Ino smiled.

"Really!?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to tell you, we're dating," Ino admitted.

"Tell me everything!" Sakura demanded eagerly as they walked into a café.

"Well…"

* * *

Sai was sitting at Ichiraku's with Naruto, eating ramen and wondering what the hell he was supposed to do for his date and the Rinne Festival.

"And they refuse to act until spring! Spring!" Naruto griped as he filled Sai in on this new terror cell, Ryuha Armed Alliance.

"Well, the snow is blowing in from the north, no one is traveling anywhere any time soon, I've heard that some of the mountain passes are already blocked," Sai said as he slurped his warm noodles and tried to think about how to handle Asami; he would probably ask Beautiful for advice. Ugly was useless in this front; probably, since she never dated, he would have a better time for advice from Beautiful. And he liked the idea of having a reason to talk to her so her homicidal boyfriend didn't kill him; and he missed having her to talk to.

"It's just… they threatened to bomb Konoha during the Rinne Festival," Naruto said lowly. Sai stiffened when there was a click and flash as he and Naruto looked up and saw a group of girls giggling and holding up an odd device, they were from Kumo according to their headprotectors and he frowned.

"Hey… so are you… are you really the man who saved the world!?" the giggling blondes ask and Sai sighed. He just wanted a lunch with his friend.

"Yes, but I saved the world with the help of my friends, and Uchiha Sasuke," Naruto said. Sai pulled out his money and paid for his ramen seeing that he was about to lose his friend to fangirls. They were quite irritating.

"Where are you going Sai?"

"I have training to get to," he lied.

"Wait, I'll come with!" Naruto said as he paid and they started walking through the hordes of people towards the Team 7 training field.

"What do you expect them to do about the threat?" Sai asked as he picked up his conversation with dickless.

"I don't know! I just! I guess I want them to take it seriously, maybe even cancel the festival!" Naruto sighed.

"Cancelling the festival would be bowing to the terrorist will and letting them win though," Sai pointed out.

"Yeah, but look around us Sai, the festival is in three weeks and we're filled to the brim with people from the civilian life, and other shinobi, and visiting foreigners, what about them!? Don't they deserve to know that there is the possibility that being here could get them killed!?" Naruto snapped.

"No, telling the general public would only create mass panic and get more people hurt than it would prevent. Besides, the terrorist aim for chaos and fear, to tell the public would feed them power and create a senseless panic, it is not worth it," Sai said calmly. In Root that was their basic lesson, never give their enemy power. And terrorists were the enemy who wanted power, to tell the general public would create a fear, fear created panic, and panic created chaos which made it easier for terrorists to strike and hurt more people.

"Yes but if this does happen!?" Naruto argued.

"Then it happens, but there are a lot of shinobi in this village on security detail, and it will not happen," Sai said firmly because that was what he had to believe. He had worked the Kage summit when it had been held in this village in October and he remembered the sheer amount security and work that had been involved with that assignment. No doubt there would be just as much, if not a little more, security for the Rinne Festival.

"That's a depressing thing to say," Naruto snapped.

"Perhaps, but dickless, the security of Konoha is some of the best," he pointed out blandly.

"I am not dickless!" Naruto roared. "And that is true, but according to Kakashi there haven't ever been this many people here for the Rinne Festival," he argued.

"Perhaps, but I think that this is not a matter that either the Fifth or Sixth Hokage would take lightly, and right now they are both the acting Hokage," Sai said pointedly. It was something that was confusing to everyone, but it was also something that had the village at ease.

"Argh! I hate waiting for the bad stuff to happen!" Naruto growled as they walked onto the training field.

"Nothing bad will happen," Sai said confidently. He had worked with the security teams and had no doubt that they would see to the village safety until after the holiday season was over. These were shinobi who specialized in their tasks, and they took their job very seriously.

"I hope you're right," Naruto admitted.

"I am, and I have a date to the Rinne Festival," he informed dickless smugly.

"Really? You? the social retard has a date?" Naruto asked dubiously and Sai smiled then.

"Yes," he said confidently.

"Holy shit," Naruto blinked.

"Have you obtained a date yet?" he asked in a cheerful tone.

"No, I'm going with Sakura though," Naruto said smugly.

"Really, is she aware of this?" Sai asked; recalling Sakura saying she didn't know if she was going to the Rinne Festival this year because of the hospital.

"Yes, I was going to ask her tonight," Naruto said and Sai nodded.

"Ugly will be pleased that you are being a good friend," Sai predicted.

"Um… I'm… I'm not asking her as a… a friend," Naruto blushed.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm asking her as my date," he admitted.

"Oh, but I thought Ugly was in love with the traitor," Sai said in confussion.

"I'm not too sure she's in love," Naruto growled and Sai shrugged. He knew nothing of love, or the complexities of what it was, he was just starting to grasp the basics of attraction and friendships so he was not going to question Naruto further in this matter as they started sparring. Naruto was better in his sign weaving, but still produced dud clones.

Sai chuckled at the attempts.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I stumble! =)**


	37. Part 1: Chapter 37

**I Do Not Own Inuyasha**

 **Chapter 37**

Sai found that most of his free time was spent painting; mostly Beautiful, but she was easy to paint for some reason. He had already sketched out her many expressions, and he had decided he wanted to paint today. Besides, it was one of the few last days off he'd be having. After the holiday season was over he would be training the Root members to be like other ANBU members. And while he did not foresee any problems with this, he was going to be cautious about it. One had to realize that Root members would not be like the ANBU.

The ANBU had a code of honor; one of which Sai was learning very hard to master and accept as a part of himself and what he needed to do. It was important to have some honor as a shinobi; however, Sai also realized the reality of the fact that there was no honor in Root. In Root they had been taught to worship and follow Danzo with no question, they had been taught that killing members of Konoha was protecting the village, and that there was no need for honor in protecting the village.

But Sai was now coming to disagree, and the ethics books he had been reading, and moral debates he had with Ugly had him rethinking most of what he knew. And he found that it was going to take a lot of work for the former Root members to see the world as it was now. Also, that the world now, was far different from the world Danzo had hidden from them.

Sighing he slid his brush over the canvass and watched as the lines he created came to life to form Beautiful.

Why she was at the forefront of his mind for painting or drawing he did not know, all he knew was that her form slipped of his brushes and fingers effortlessly. It felt right to paint her and it felt amazing to bring her to life. Which was why he found it difficult to focus on much else.

However he did and he was going to work hard to keep it that way.

A knock on the door had him looking up as he reluctantly walked over, his hand falling onto a kunai he had tucked behind his back. Opening the door a bit he was greeted by Kakashi.

"Oh, hello, come in," he smiled as he stepped aside and let his mentor in, before again shutting the door. "What can I do for you Sixth Hokage?"

"Sai, we have a mission for you," Kakashi said as he sat at the table.

"Oh? What is it?"

"After the festival, you will be going to Shijima no Kumi," Kakashi said.

"Of course Hokage, may I ask why?" Sai said as he accepted the outstretched scroll.

"Shinobi of all villages are disappearing, I have a hunch that this land has something to do with it, there have been disturbing rumors from there."

* * *

Ino had greatly enjoyed Tenten's baby shower and being in charge of what they had been doing, though the other women hadn't had much of a say in the matter. No, Ino had taken charge, and they had fully celebrated the impending birth of Tenten and Neji's bundle of joy.

Ino had ten on it being a girl; that would royally irritate Neji.

But Temari was putting her money on a boy.

Sakura and Hinata were band from the betting because they knew what Tenten was having, and therefore would cheat. So, Ino had savored her moment as she now had Temari standing still on a coffee table as she hemmed it.

"I do have my own kimono," Temari restated for the group as they all chatted about the upcoming festival, and discussed what this would mean for their plans.

"Shush! You will not insult a respected clan of Konoha or insult Suna by showing up in a desert kimono to freeze your ass off at the festival, catch a cold and be at Sakura's hospital!" Ino snapped around the pins she had in her teeth.

"I doubt she'd be at my hospital," Sakura sighed.

"This is too much for the Rinne Festival," Temari countered blandly and Ino felt like yelling at the Suna kunoichi that this was the most important festival of the entire year, and that there was no such thing as too much when it was a formal festival!

"Have fun with it Temari!" Tenten called out with a smile.

"But this is a bit much."

"Not compared to what I will be wearing," Hinata countered softly. Ino's eyes narrowed when she again pricked her finger and she sighed. "It's the duty of a Hyūga to set an example for the rest of the village to follow."

"I get that, but… I mean, Ino, isn't this a family heirloom or something!?" Temari demanded, Ino sighed. It had been her mother's but with Temari's darker complexion it would look better on her, than it would on Ino.

"It is, and it's mine to give as a gift to who I choose," she snapped.

Truthfully, she wanted Temari to have this kimono, it would look better on her. Ino found she was too pale to properly wear the soft colors that her mother had loved, it would wash Ino out and that was wholly unacceptable. But with Temari… it worked far better.

"I just… isn't it a bit much for a village festival?" Temari sputtered again.

"No, it's a bit little, but at the Rinne Festival, very few things are too much," Sakura countered. Ino just thanked Kami that her fashion-less friend knew that much as she continued to hem the Kimono.

"Fine, but if he says this is a drag it's your fault Ino!" Temari growled.

"I doubt he'll be able to for a thought when I'm finished with you," Ino assured the older woman with a smile. Truthfully she already knew that Temari messed up Shikamaru's thinking, so it was now time to blow it to smithereens.

* * *

"I see," Sai said as he leant back on his counter and absorbed everything Kakashi had just told him. it wasn't unfathomable, it was quite the opposite really, but the idea of it.

"We need someone to scout the area, and you have the training, expertise and skills to do so," Kakashi said.

"I will do it, but it is a lot to think of," Sai admitted as he rubbed his temple and chose not to worry about the implications of failure on this mission. Failure was rarely an option for him, and he wasn't going to let himself fail because it was impossible. He had been Root, impossible missions were his normal and that would never bother him, but the unknowns of this…

It was something to think about and think on carefully. But he knew he was going to go, he knew it in the marrow of his bones. He would go, and he would do this, and he wouldn't care about his life until his mission was complete.

"Thank you Sai, I know you have a date, and most the passes have been snowed over, so you leave at the first sign of melting," Kakashi said.

"That will not be necessary, I can fly out of Konoha, and will go on the mission, after the holidays," he said respectfully.

"Very well," Kakashi said. "This is a solo mission though, give us as much intel on the fanatics as you can and then get out of there; we don't need another good shinobi vanishing."

"Yes Hokage," he bowed a bit and Kakashi left in a puff of smoke. Sai slowly sat at his table as he started reading over the mission and what was going on, he pulled out the sealed files and started reading through them. There was an impressive list of people missing from the war; some were AWOL, MIA, and KIA, and all of these were being thoroughly investigated to ensure that the villages had all their dead, deserters, and traitors to deal with as they saw fit.

Sai did not fully understand how people could willingly go AWOL, but then he was Root, and AWOL was something they didn't do.

Sighing he put all the files back, sealed them within the scroll as he slipped it into his pack and resumed his painting of Beautiful. It was clearing to his mind and heart, but still, the thought of her dating Kiba, it was painful. Sighing he decided that this mission would be the time he needed to get his head straightened out and his emotions under control. Ino did not need him in this village, of this he was certain and he needed to figure out what was going on with himself, but himself.

Talking to Ugly had helped, but now it was his time to figure the rest out because it was important to him. still, he brought the painting of Beautiful to life with his mind's eye.

* * *

After waving off her friends after the party she rounded the block and found herself slamming into Kiba.

"Hey, whoa," Kiba caughter her and she stared up at him.

"I thought you were on a mission," she gasped.

"I was, but I thought to come back in time for the Rinne Festival for my girl and I to go," he grinned and she smiled as they walked together, she slipped her arm in his and listened as he filled her in on all the on goings of what he had been doing. Ino half listened, she couldn't find his mission interesting though; try as she might. It was just a hunting mission and to her that was about as interesting as being tossed into a tank of piranhas. No matter, she would indulge her date.

Kiba grinned and then she gasped when he pressed her up to a wall, his mouth on hers, his hands in her hair and his body pressing in on her.

"Kiba!" she gasped when he pulled away.

"Sorry, I just really missed you and you smell like other guys," he growled softly as he kissed her softly again.

"I… I missed you too," she lied and smiled sweetly at him when he nipped her bottom lip and pulled away.

"Why do you smell like other guys?" he demanded, a red flag went off in her head but she ignored it.

"I do have male friends Kiba, Sai, Ibiki, Shikamaru, and Chōji, I hang out with them too," she pointed out flatly. She was going to enjoy her time with her boyfriend, arrange to have dinner with Ibiki tomorrow and be ready for the Rinne Festival. She wanted to look gorgeous for Kiba since the Festival was only a few days away.

"Oh, could you… not hang out with them?" he asked.

"Huh?" she blinked, not thinking she had heard him right as she stared at him from the corner of her eye.

"Never mind," he sighed as he rubbed a hand on the back of his neck and sighed.

"I'm glad you had a successful mission," she admitted as she walked with him.

"Yeah, it was great," he admitted as he slung his arm around her waist and pulled her close. Ino snuggled into him and tried to make this feel right, it could feel right, it had the potential to feel right. But there was something nagging at her right now as she imagined Sai's inky eyes. It wasn't right to fantasize about another man when one was with their boyfriend; was it?

Ino sighed and his her face in Kiba's shoulder as she tried not to think about it and tried to enjoy her boyfriend.

Everything was getting confusing.

"Hey, how about we go to dinner tomorrow?" Kiba asked her.

"Can't, I'm going with Ibiki, but I'm all yours for the festival," she smiled and tried to giggle a little.

Kiba frowned slightly before grinning at her.

"Great," he said and kissed her again.

* * *

 **Sorry for missing the update this weekend, I had no internet.**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	38. Part 1: Chapter 38

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 38**

Sai was ready for the Rinne Festival, and he was feeling… semi-alright; he wasn't confident with this but he didn't think he'd be a complete failure. But still, he wasn't entirely comfortable with what he was about to do as he walked to the art shop and adjusted his grey clothes. It was drab but these were warm, and he rarely wore something other than black or grey or white. Still he was ready as he stood there and was about to knock on the shop door.

It opened before he could and he found himself looking at Asami, quickly he pulled on a polite smile then.

"Hello, Asami," he greeted.

"Hey Sai," she smiled and she walked out of her shop, took his arm and he felt very uncomfortable with her so close.

"So is this your first time at the Rinne Festival?" she asked and he nodded.

He was relatively certain he had mentioned that he had never been to the Rinne Festival before, but he refrained from saying it again as they walked.

"Then this will be fun! I've never gone with a date before!" she admitted excitedly.

"Really?" he asked nervously. He didn't like the thought of being her first for anything; he wasn't a good first pick for a girl. And he knew it.

"Yeah, I just… you're so handsome I thought you'd be a great pick for going to the Festival with, besides, you're nice," Asami said. Sai frowned a bit at her deductions but kept his blunt opinions of her lowering intelligence to himself. This was now the worst thing he had ever agreed to do in his life and he was wishing that had not gone on this date. It was clearly not a date because she liked him but rather because she thought him to be handsome, that was a little humiliating. But he kept the opinion to himself.

Asami jabbered away, he thought her to be annoying, but just silently nodded his head and wondered where Ugly was to get him out of this date. It was not a good date so far and he wanted it to be over. He knew it had barely started, but he still wanted it to be over.

A flash of silvery blonde caught his eye as he turned his head in the direction of a royal purple kimono and platinum blonde on the arm of a rough looking man.

His heart stopped as he looked at Ino, and she smiled at him.

"Hey Sai! Asami, right?" Ino said as she walked up to them with Kiba.

"Yes," Asami smiled then and Sai couldn't help but feel like there was something unspoken being said here as the girls looked at one another.

"Hello Beautiful, it's nice to see you again, Kiba," Sai smiled politely.

"Hey Sai," Kiba growled, and Sai remembered that hit Kiba had given him which had him wanting to slug the other man across the jaw. But Sai didn't.

* * *

Alright, now men should know that when a woman spends hours, upon hours to get ready for them that the woman expects compliments. Nay, she demands compliments. But being a lady, she will never say she wants the compliments; it is the man's job to give her the damn compliment though.

And that was not what had happened for Ino.

She spent hours, and she did mean hours, perfecting her look for tonight. She had started this morning, primping, polishing, scrubbing, perfecting, rejecting, retying, and accepting her look. And she had taken all day to perfect herself without the help of anyone. Hours of doing hair, makeup, body, and perfection she had felt ready, and pulled on her kimono then examined herself in the mirror. She had looked like beauty incarnated; even if that was her own opinion.

Her boyfriend had knocked on the door, and in all her sultry glory, in all her beautiful perfection; after hours upon hours to make herself perfect, she had opened the door and smiled at him.

Now, Kiba had irritated her because of the following; it was just common manners, it was in no way treating a girl like she was a damsel in distress or something, it was just MANNERS!

One; he did not have flowers or something for her, and while that was not important in and of itself because they were dating, it stung a bit to have no flowers for this important occasion.

Two; he did not say hi to her, or call her beautiful, gorgeous, or breathtaking. He had kissed her hard; unceremoniously, and called her babe. It didn't hurt to be called beautiful once in a while, she already knew she was a babe.

And three; he didn't get the damn door for her. It was just chivalry, manners, whatever; it was a little thing that Ino liked when men did, it made her feel special and not like the feminist that she was. She was all for girl power and all that bullshit but seriously, some manners were appreciated.

So, after listening to Kiba talk Ino had decided she'd get even with him and had been on the look out for Sai.

Now, while Sai was not the most socially graceful of people he did call her Beautiful, he did bring her gifts when he thought they were needed, and he did have manners. Granted he had no filter between his mouth and brain and said wholly inappropriate things at times, but the point was that he had manners! And if Kiba refused to treat her like a lady, and intended to treat her like a 'babe' she would train him and correct this behavior.

No pun intended.

Which was why she stood here with Kiba and smiled at Sai who was smiling politely with the brunette on his arm. Ino didn't like Asami at all, not one bit; and a small part of her wanted to gouge the other woman's eyes out for some reason, but Ino refrained because she was here to show Kiba how a woman liked to be treated; not some girl, but a woman. And if anyone thought Ino to be anything less than a woman then know she'd break their minds and walk away. Even the guys in her unit treated her like a lady; though being called Princess was annoying.

"Asami, right?" Ino asked with genuine interest.

"Um yes," the girl said.

"I'm Ino, I'm a friend of Sai's, I believe we've met a few times," Ino grinned as she held out her hand and shook the girl's with ease. "How's your date going?"

"Wonderful, Sai's been a complete gentleman," Asami smiled and Ino slid a look to Kiba to see him glaring maliciously at Sai.

"Well, Sai's a wonderful guy who knows how to treat a lady, you have a good one there Asami," Ino said pointedly, Kiba's scowl grew.

"I am?" Sai asked in genuine confusion.

"Of course you are, any woman would be lucky to have a gentleman like you," she said; knowing her jabs were hitting the mark with Kiba as she smiled at Sai. So what if it was a little mean; Ino had done far worse for far less. But Kiba would learn to be a gentleman or she would ditch him.

The thing was, she didn't want to ditch him.

"Come on Ino," Kiba growled.

"Alright, alright, no need to be handsy," she said as she swatted at her date, he scowled a bit more but she held a level glare at him and saw him flinch a bit.

"Asami, Sai, have a lovely evening," Ino smiled and then she walked with Kiba.

"Why did you have to talk to him?" Kiba groaned and she jabbed her elbow in his side, having him wince in shock and she glared at him.

"Kiba, I will only tell you this once, and if you ever screw it up again I will drop your ass faster than you can blink. Women like gentlemen, that means compliments, flowers, sweets, seductions, manners, and chivalry. I do not like wasting hours upon hours of my day to look gorgeous for you if you're only going to call me babe; I am not a girl, I am a woman, and I will be treated accordingly. I want to be called beautiful, gorgeous, sexy, breath taking, I do not appreciate being called babe, and I like men who get my doors and chairs for me; it's not being independent, it's good manners!" she snapped.

Then spun on her heel as she stalked through the crowd leaving a befuddled Kiba behind her. Honestly, why did she have to even explain this? She had never once thought that she would need to explain it!

"Wait Ino!" he shouted for her.

But Ino's temper did not have her slowing as she expertly walked the route through the festival, a hand caught hers, she turned to hit Kiba, but he caught her fist.

* * *

Sai was thoroughly confused by that encounter and he would gladly never encounter it again. But he knew that Ino was saying something; what he didn't know, to someone there. Probably Kiba, he doubted she was actually talking to him.

"Why do you call her Beautiful?" Asami asked in a sharp tone which had him internally panicking as he slowly pulled on his textbook smile and looked at her.

"Because nicknames build team bonds, and comradery, I call Sakura Ugly," he said honestly.

"That's horrible Sai!" Asami gasped.

"Ugly does not mind, she has stopped hitting me, all the time," he replied earnestly.

"She hits you! She's a bitch!" she shrieked.

"N-No, Ugly is just… she's my sister," he pointed out softly but he didn't think Asami heard him as she started in on a tyrade about what a horrible person Sakura must be.

Sai, personally, thought Sakura was the best person he had ever met, or encountered; he couldn't remember ever meeting anyone better than she. She accepted him; and accepted the cruel nickname he had given her, she saved him, she was there for him, she listened to him, she talked to him; Sakura was so much more than a friend to him. She was family. His family. And he would not tolerat ea woman he barely knew insulting her!

"Enough! Ugly is my family, she is my friend, and I do not like what you are saying about her!" he snapped and pulled away from Asami. "You know nothing, and you judge her wrongly."

With that he walked away to find Sakura again for the festival. If that girl was his choice of a date then Sai was not going to like introducing her to his best friend. Since the death of his brother; Shin he hadn't had anyone. Then he had had Team 7, but more than that, he had found he had Sakura. it didn't matter how horrible, crude, rude, and cruel he unintentionally was, she was there for him. That to him said a lot about her and he would not tolerate this bitch insulting his family!

"Sai! Wait!" Asami called out, but he ddn't slow as he leapt to the rooftops and took off. He would not be near her again.

The only disappointment he felt was at the fact that he would now have to find a new supply shop for his art supplies. No doubt he could, but he didn't have a lot of time to do that, he knew it and he didn't like thinking he'd have to search the village for a shop. Perhaps Sakura's parents would know a shop he could use.

Sai skidded to a halt seeing Sakura running through the crowd, Naruto was chasing her and Sai felt everything in him go cold as he stared at them. He had tried to tell Naruto that asking Sakura to be his girl was a bad idea.

Now she was running, and Sai didn't like that as he slowly followed them.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	39. Part 1: Chapter 39

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 39**

"Let me go Kiba or I swear to Kami il will dive into your head and rip your mind to shreds, and don't think I can't," she snarled lowly.

"I'm not here to fight with you Ino," he murmured and she glared at him.

"Then what!? You wanted to bring me to the Rinne Festival, but you've only acted like a chauvinistic alpha male with a claim rather than a girlfriend. I deserve more than that," she spat out.

"Yeah, I guess… Ino…" he sighed. She yanked herself from his grasp as she continued walking. She would not let herself be strung around by him.

"No. I'm more than this!" she snapped.

"Ino! I'm sorry, I've just… I've never had a girlfriend and I'm… I'll figure it out," he said as his arms slid around her waist.

"Will you?" she demanded sharply.

"I… I can," he assured her.

"Good, now, you wanted to bring me here so where to first?" she demanded as she hooked her arm with his and walked with him. Kiba grinned as he guided her along and they chatted a bit about their interests, she kept up with him and laughed at his jokes. Glared at him whenever he slipped up and didn't get her chair as she waited for him to catch on.

He was slow on the uptake, but she was certain that this would change as he pulled out her seat after having left her standing there for ten minutes. But he caught on and now she slid into a chair at Ichiraku's.

"Thank you Kiba," she smiled graciously, he blushed a bit.

"Y-Yeah, I'll figure this manners thing out," he assured her.

"Mmm, I'm sure you will. But remember, if you want me you need them. It's the little things kiba," she said softly as she smiled and ordered.

No, Ino was not trying to control him or change him, she genuinely liked Kiba as he was. But good Kami did he need manners! She just wanted to have a meal with him where he was a gentleman and she didn't have to remind him.

"Ino," she looked up when she heard her name getting called.

"Hey Ibiki!" she smiled and stood as she hurried over and hugged him.

"How you doing princess?" he asked.

"I'm good, Ibiki, this is my boyfriend Inuzuka Kiba," she introduced and smiled at the man who was practically her uncle as he scowled at Kiba.

"So you're dating my princess now, are you?" Ibiki growled lowly.

"Yes sir," Kiba replied in a hot tone which had her stepping between them.

"Why don't you join us Ibiki?"

"Nah, I got work tonight, I'll see you later Princess," he said.

"Hey, Ibiki, why don't you spend Christmas with me?" she asked.

"I'm touched, I'll have to answer you later, working," Ibiki said as he pulled away. "Oh, and you look breathtaking, Ino, I hope this idiot is treating you like the woman you are."

"We shall see," she mused dryly as she smiled and waved him off.

* * *

Sai left the moment he saw Sakura kiss Naruto, it was clear to him that they were fighting and he didn't want to get in the middle of that. No, he wanted to stay nice with them both and whatever this fight was about it involved kissing and Sai didn't fully understand what that meant as he sat on the roof staring out at the lit up village.

The icy breeze ruffled his hair and he sensed the other presence.

"I thought you had a date tonight?" a smooth voice said.

"Oh, I did, but I thought family before bitches," he smiled sincerely as he looked at the masked captain who crouched beside him.

"I suppose," Kakashi admitted.

"Naruto and Sakura are fighting, again, and kissing," Sai admitted as he looked back out at the city.

"Mm, it was bound to happen sooner or later since Sasuke's return and Naruto's rise to mythic fame," Kakashi sighed.

"You expected this?"

"Sakura will always chose Sasuke, always, but she will also try to straighten her relationship with Naruto out as well," Kakashi admitted.

"Why?"

"Their relationship, while straightforward and simple, is complicated by Naruto's infatuation with Sakura, and now that they have Sasuke back Sakura will try to straighten out their dynamics again. No doubt she is speaking to Naruto about why this isn't going to work," Kakashi explained.

"I do not understand. She is kissing him to clear their relationship up?"

"In a way, Sakura's… she's proving a point at this point, and Naruto isn't going to like it," Kakashi sighed.

"Oh. Do you think she loved Naruto, ever?"

"In a way, Sai. In a way, she loves him, like she loves you, and she loves me, but she Loves the Uchiha. And frankly after all the hells he's put the both of them through I hope they can straighten their ties out and either be friends or Sakura win him over," Kakashi said softly.

"Really?"

"Yes, but first, she's need to set Naruto straight," Kakshi chuckled.

"But not me?"

"Sai, she knows you don't see her that way and don't love her that way, and its why you two are good friends. But with Naruto and Sakura… it's complicated, after Sasuke left they only had one another to rely on, and Naruto's crush grew with their new found closeness. Most of the time Sakura dismisses it, she's in love with someone, real love, not teenage love, so she knows the difference. But to keep Naruto and hers' friendship standing she hasn't confronted it. Now that Sasuke's back, and the dynamics of Team 7 change again, she's setting Naruto straight. It's time for her to let him go and him to let her go," Kakashi said.

"Oh." Was all Sai could think to respond with.

"Complicated," Kakashi sighed.

"Very, I do not fully understand," Sai admitted.

"That's alright Sai, right now, she's hurting herself," Kakashi murmured.

"Do you not approve of this talk she's having with Naruto?" Sai asked.

"No, I think it's long overdue," Kakashi admitted. "But she and Naruto hadn't cared about stringing this out, but now it's time to cut the string and grow up. It's going to hurt."

"I see," Sai murmured. "What do I do for her then?"

"Nothing, I'll handle this one," Kakashi said softly.

"Really?"

"Yeah," his mentor nodded. Sai looked down when he heard running again, pink streaked by, Kakashi leapt after her and Sai watched as Sakura slowed, stopped, leaned on a wall then collapsed. Kakashi peeled off his jacket, wrapped her up and picked her up and Sai looked back from where she had come from.

Naruto was now talking with Hinata and he sighed.

Complicated indeed.

Standing he brushed himself off then walked the rooftops back to his place. It was time he went on his mission, he was done with all this drama. He was not going to date, and there was nothing to say. Carefully he created three ink creatures with his messages for the three people he wanted to tell that he was leaving.

The first was to Kakashi; as Hokage and his mentor. He asked Kakashi to keep an eye on Sakura now that she had broken her heart; again, and he would not be there to monitor her health. Because normally that's what he did.

The second was to Sakura, as his sister. And he told her that when he returned they were going camping and he wanted to speak to her. After all, they were best friends and he had not had a chance to be her friend. Perhaps instead of camping they'd go on a mission; whatever she wanted.

The third was for Ino; as his dear friend. He asked her to be there for Sakura because he wasn't going to be and to be happy with Kiba. He would be sending her work too, he expected to capture sever terrorists, and he also told her that he was never dating again. The date with Asami was something he would aske her about upon his return.

After that he packed up his stuff, stowed his paintings, sketches, and colors away as he tucked the supplies away. Picking up two new sketch books he put them in his pack with three extra scrolls; Shin's book and a few other things. The rare poison Sakura had given him; the concoction of antidotes she had also given him. a few changes of clothes, his newest identity, seven storage scrolls, his super scroll and about twelve normal scrolls. He picked his finest brushes, took the wet rock, and sheathed his blade as he pulled the weapon onto his back.

Looking over his supplies he released his ink creatures (sparrows this time) then he heafted his pack. Walked out the door, locked it, placed his last tells and walked towards the village gates.

The fireworks boomed overhead and he pulled his super scroll, a brush in his fingers as he summoned a bird.

* * *

Ino smiled as Kiba spun her around the dancefloor. She chuckled as he held her close, she liked how his hands slid over her as she pressed against him, her hands on his shoulders.

The fireworks illuminated the sky and she smiled.

"So pretty," Kiba murmured.

"Oh?" she lifted her plucked brows at him.

"Yeah, you just… wow," he breathed.

"Mmm, you're no longer in the dog house," she chuckled.

"Really?" he quirked his brow.

"Not if you kiss me right now," she whispered.

"Oh, that I can do," he assured her as his mouth crashed onto hers' and her fingers slid into his hair to cradle his head.

It wasn't much, but what there was enough to have her wanting more as his mouth moved over hers' and she tried to keep up with him. Slowly Kiba pulled away, she looked at those red stained cheeks as a blush crept up on him.

"Do you… tonight? Your place?" he whispered.

"Oh?" she mused as she lifted her brows. She was no stranger to sex, she had tried it a few times, found it fun and satisfying and it was an epic release if she could reach her orgasm which would have her relaxing. And right now… she was probably going to give in to him and take what he was offering. She was young, he was young, and sex was fun.

Still, a part of her wanted someone else as she reached up on her toes and pressed her lips to his ear.

"I want you to take me home, I want you to fuck me so hard I can't think, and I want you to talk dirty to me, I want you to go as long as you can, and when you can't anymore I want you to hold me close," she whispered and felt his excitement building.

"Oh, that I can do," he assured her.

"Are you sure?" she mused.

"Oh yeah," he said, he grabbed her hand and dragged her after him. she just let him pull her along as they made it to her place then.

She wanted this, she assured herself. She was dating Kiba, she was his girlfriend, and there was nothing weird about having sex with her boyfriend.

Still, her mind's eye flashed her inky black and she wondered if she wanted Kiba or Sai.

Yes Sai! She didn't know anymore, it was so confusing!

Ino gasped as she was shoved against her door, her boyfriend's mouth on hers' and his hands sliding over her layers of silk.

She wanted this, she did…

She just wanted it with someone else…

She wanted this with Sai.

But the moment Kiba had her door open and they stumbled into her apartment all thoughts of wanting Sai flew out of her head.

She wasn't dating Sai, he was dating Asami! He didn't want her, and with that final thought she issed Kiba with everything she had as she tried not to think about Sai.

* * *

 **I've got a busying coming week this week so I've decided to do this week's UtDI postings early!**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	40. Part 1: Chapter 40

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 40**

Sai stared down at the rolling mountains as he flew through the crisp sky.

He had always enjoyed flying, everything was so crisp, so clear, so clean up here. It was like there was nothing wrong with the world way up here. Also, there was the sun here. After what felt like an eternity in the darkness, in the shadows and never existing he had had found a love he never knew he needed; and it was in the sun. The warmth of it touching his face, the feel of it warming his blood and body, it was addicting.

Closing his eyes he wondered how his friends were. Naruto was probably bitching about Sakura breaking his heart, but Sai would side with Ugly.

Ugly was his best friend, and sister, he would side with her because that's what family meant. And he wasn't giving up his family, ever. Opening his inky eyes he stared out at the world again and felt the wind ruffle his hair.

Perhaps he shouldn't have left without saying good bye or making certain that Sakura was at least alright. But he didn't. Sai wondered what was the normal for this stuff, he didn't know, Sakura and Naruto so rarely actually hurt one another that he didn't know. Oh, they argued a lot, Sakura clobbered Naruto often, but they had never hurt one another with the need to hurt one another. Which was why he was a bit miffed with their argument.

Staring out at the world he wondered how he could make this right, he knew he probably couldn't, but he wanted to know just in case there was something he could do.

There was a sound which captured his attention as he stared down at the world. The smoke cleared and Sai's eyes widened as he saw an explosive come racing towards him. he made his bird dive, but it was too late as the ink beneath him exploded, Sai's weightlessness did not scare him as he reacted on instinct, pulling his scroll free. The bird painted caught him again as they surged through the air. There were more explosives fired at him and he wove through the air. Looking down he saw that he was over a village.

Turning his bird sharply he narrowly evaded another explosive as he pulled a smaller scroll and painted a set of dragons, summoning them life he watched as they slithered up into their sky, then they descended upon the town.

He used them as his eyes, the people screamed and Sai stepped off the bird then as he dove after his creations.

The whisling wind hurt his numb ears but he didn't slow until he was near the village then he dropped onto one of his dragons before leaping to the ground and rolling. Scroll out and brush ready he looked at the terrorist standing before him. they all held their weapons read.

There was a battle cry as one charged him and Sai's hand flew.

* * *

Ino woke feeling loose, sore and wonderfully used as she slowly sat up and got out of her bed. Kiba was sleeping there.

Strange the things one could learn from a man they slept with. Walking to her shower she decided to let her lover rest, he had worn them both out last night and now that it was morning though she had to get to work.

Also, she didn't want to be around when he woke.

Kiba… well, last night, while mind blowing, had shown her a few things about her lover she didn't want to deal with or think about as she washed her hair and rinsed it. Finishing that up she walked out of her bathroom and got dressed before hurrying out of her place and leaving Kiba a note. Then she walked to Intelligence. Sighing she hugged her coat around herself and looked at the ground.

She didn't want to think about last night, she really didn't, but she couldn't seem to not think about it as she walked into the building. She smiled at the security and secretary, then took the elevator to the lower levels where she worked.

Biting her thumb, she tried to think if she was making a mistake here somewhere. Perhaps a talk with Sakura would help her, or she could talk to Temari. Ino honestly didn't know who to talk to or not anymore because she was so confused. Groaning she rean her hands through her down hair and cursed at not having pulled the long mass up and back.

The doors dinged and slid open, Ino walked out of the elevator then. she smiled at the guys she normally walked past and headed straight for Ibiki's office.

"Morning Princess, aren't you supposed to be having beauty sleep, it's your week off," Ibiki smiled when he looked up.

"Um, yeah, I just thought I'd come in, finish up my reports and help out," she smiled as she walked over to Ibiki.

"What is it kid?" he demanded.

"Nothing," she sighed.

"Is this about that boyfriend of yours? Because if he hurt you I'll break him," Ibiki growled.

"No, it's a girl thing Ibiki, you can't fix it," she admitted.

"Oh, never have handled girl problems before," Ibiki admitted as he leant back in his chair.

"I just… sex with Kiba, it was great, it was, but I just… I don't know, I didn't like him," she admitted. She saw Ibiki squirm a bit, but she only sighed.

"You had sex with Kiba?" he asked in a strangled tone.

"I'm not a virgin," she shrugged. She wasn't a slut either, but she had tried sex a few times.

"I didn't think you were," Ibiki said calmly. "And why is this bothering you?"

"I just… he kept saying 'mine' and 'I won' and 'my bitch' and it… it made me uncomfortable," she admitted as she blushed and shifted a bit. She didn't mind dirty talk, it could be arousing as hell, but that… that thing with Kiba, it wasn't dirty talk, it was downright claiming and he hadn't given a shit if she was Ino his girlfriend or a fuck girl he could pick up. That was the part that had stung her pride a bit.

Kiba hadn't cared about who she was, he just wanted his release.

And him saying things like 'mine', 'I won', and 'my bitch' were not things she had been comfortable with. Also, Ino did not like being on all four, she had tried to tell Kiba but he hadn't listened to her. even if he did manage to give her three mind blowing orgasms in that position she hadn't really been comfortable.

"What are you going to do about it?" Ibiki asked.

"I'm going to call Sakura, set up a girl's night, hang out and discuss it with her," Ino admitted. "But you asked so…" she shrugged and grinned lecherously.

Ibiki rubbed his face.

"I am never getting married," the older man avowed, she giggled a bit and kicked her feet up.

"You'd have a daughter if you did get married and I bet she'd be like me and drive you to insanity!" Ino teased.

"No children for me," he decided, she laughed and stared at the ceiling. She wanted to just relax for the day and be away from Kiba to think clearly. That's all she wanted. It wasn't all that much to ask for either.

"I just want to relax today and enjoy a day without worrying about Kiba or anything," she admitted.

"You work in the T&I unit, we never relax kid," Ibiki reminded her.

"I know, but I just need today."

"Look, you're welcomed to hide out at my place, but I can't let you hang out here.

"Thanks Ibiki, I think I know where I'd rather go though," she admitted as she remembered the key Sai had entrusted her with. She'd hide out at Sai's today. It was a peaceful place and Kami knew she could use the break from Kiba.

Smiling she got up, waved Ibiki off as she left then walked to Sai's apartment. Pulling out the key she was relieved when it opened the door and she could walk in. she was a bit surprised to not see Sai there, but as she poked around she decided he wouldn't mind her just hiding out.

A yawn slipped her lips, she hadn't really slept last night and the exhaustion started weighing on her. stripping out of her jacket and shoes she crawled into Sai's bed and curled up in it.

It smelt of him, ink, sandalwood, papers, and that scent that was Sai. Inhaling it she wished Sai was here so she could talk to him. Where was Sai anyway? Probably with his girlfriend Asami, she thought bitterly and kicked herself mentally for even telling him to try dating her.

The world slipped away from Ino as she clung to the blankets and pillows which reminded her of her strange new friend.

* * *

Sai stared at the tied up men, he sat across from the one who he had determined to be the leader because of how the others looked to him and smiled.

"Hello," Sai said politely.

"What the fuck do you want, you fucking cock sucking traitor," the man snarled.

"I do not believe that is a polite introduction," he scolded. He was not out of his depth here, he was perfectly comfortable as he stared at the hostile shinobi.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" the man asked in confusion.

"A great many things," Sai responded cheerfully. "But mostly, you've threatened the lives of innocent civilians, you've attack the Shinobi Union, and you blew me from the sky. None of which I appreciate," Sai said as his tone grew hard and cold.

There was a shiver in the man's eye.

"Now, I have a friend," Sai said as he pulled his kunai. "Who works in T&I, and though I am not as sophisticated as they are at interrogation, I am efficiant. Now, will you tell me what it is I want to know or do I have to slice off every part of your body to discover the answer?"

"What the hell!?"

"The choice is quite simple really," he smiled cheerfully. "I have all day, you do not, and my boss expects me to complete my mission."

"What is wrong with you?" a different terrorist asked.

"Many things," Sai smiled politely. It was turning out to be the best tactic he had as the men cringed and he toyed with his knife contemplating which man to break first. Who was the weakest link? Who would tell him what was going on with the missing shinobi? Who would tell him what Uchiha Madara had to do with this?

If was hours later when Sai walked out bloody, dead bodies littering the house that he decided to radio Kakashi. This was going to be the important news which would change the world.

Speaking lowly he filled the Hokage in on everything that had been going on here and what he was planning to do before he finished the transmission. Ending it he left his radio stashed away, he'd keep in touch through the ink animals he could create. Once he was certain the radio was safe he went about making the bodies disappear.

Completing his task it was night and he was exhausted.

Weary, covered in sweat, grim, blood, and dirt he went about cleaning himself up hastily before he pulled out his tent, set up several watch snakes and rats as he infused them with minimal chakra before he finished setting up his camp.

Once that was done he rolled out his bed and closed his eyes, he wondered what was going on, it didn't seem normal as he stared at the back of his eyelids. There was something going on in Shijima no Kuni. It wasn't natural for all these people to go missing, the war had ended seven months ago.

* * *

 **UtDI... Stories are my everything practice for just about everything from lemons, action, drama and conflicts. Nothing till X-Mas... busy, busy, busy... ;)**

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	41. Part 1: Chapter 41

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 41**

Ino woke in Sai's bed, she sighed as she stretched out and slowly sat up, her hair tumbling around her as she looked around for the man who was supposed to live here, but she saw nothing of him. Sighing she guessed that was to be expected, she didn't know why but she had hoped he'd be here. More than likely he was out on a mission; after all he was former Root so he was probably very good at his job. Also, he had Sakura's respect, friendship, and title of family, so it was pretty clear to her Ino that things for Sai were solid and he was good at what he did.

Swinging her legs off his bed she stood up to look in his bathroom, it was sparse, not unexpected. Taking care of her needs she then she started doing her hair as she let it tumble freely to her hips. She was going to let it grow, she decided. Just let it grow until it hit the ground, cut it to her shoulders and repeat the process. Perhaps there was a wig shop or something which would take her hair once it was grown out.

Once she had taken care of her immediate needs, and her appearance she walked around Sai's apartment. She wanted to feel like a stranger here, but she felt at ease in his space, like it was somewhere she belonged. Not wanting to pry though she took herself to the kitchen and started going through his foods; there was not much here. bread and pastries from the Haruno bakery though; that reminded her that she was once again going to have to be involved with the flower shop, and her clan. The prospect; while not as thrilling as working in Intelligence; might balance her world, at least she hoped it might.

Pulling out some bread and butter; she damned the carbs, and toasted it as she sat at Sai's table with a book of his in hand.

She didn't want to think about why she was more at ease here and with Sai than she was with her boyfriend Kiba. She really didn't want to think about it, but even as she told herself not to think about it she found herself wondering.

Had she forced something? Rushed into things with Kiba? What if this was all an impending disaster that was going to blow up in her face? What if this was all so Kiba could get laid; after hearing his talking in bed last night she wouldn't be surprised.

Sighing she leant on the counter, dragging her hands through her hair as she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. She wasn't going to go there, she was beautiful, she was smart, she was sexy, she was funny, and she was fun! If Kiba wanted to just use her because she could be sexy she was going to kick his balls up into his throat and rip his mind apart. She was not going to be used, she was better than that.

Looking at the toasted bread she pulled a plate and set it up as she started buttering it and trying to figure out how to fix this thing between her and Kiba.

She didn't want to cut her losses just yet; she had a feeling Kiba could be a great guy. But she wasn't feeling it. The spark that had been there had disappeared after last night. Which was why she leant back in the chair she had set herself up in and nibbled on her toast.

Why couldn't Kiba have tried to be… less dog?... in bed? It wasn't a bad thing that he was possessive, and she didn't mind dirty talk to a degree, but she hadn't felt it a turn on last night. Groaning she let her head fall back as she internally cursed herself and her luck.

Guys sucked.

At least that was her opinion at the moment. No doubt she'd talk to Kiba and maybe they could salvage their thing and maybe not; Ino didn't know. But what she did know was that she was not property, and she would not stand to be referred as such because that's how Kiba had treated her the night before.

Finishing her toast she looked at her plate, cleaning it quietly she put it back, grabbed her jacket, the keys, walked out the door, locked it again and started off. She would need to speak to the Yamanaka elders about her job at the flower shop, she wanted to keep it. And then she would go talk to Sakura's parents, maybe check in on Tenten. After all, Tenten was joining the community of shop owning shinobi.

Humming to herself, feeling a bit better since her nap at Sai's, she ignored her uneasy gut. She didn't want to worry herself to death about her relationship with Kiba though it seemed to be a shadow at the forefront of her mind.

She was going to have to arrange a girls' night at Sakura's and discuss this with her. For someone who was a shut in where dating was concerned Sakura actually had pretty solid advice. Then again, Sakura was surrounded by idiot guys so she had probably gained a lot more insight on the male half of the species than Ino had.

"Ino! Hey! Wait up," Kiba shouted. her heart plummeted as she turned with a smile on her lips and she watched him coming to her.

"Hey Kiba," she smiled.

"You weren't there when I woke up," he huffed.

"I had work, but now I'm off and I have clan business to handle," she lied smoothly as she slipped her arm in his and walked with him. He grinned at her.

"You're so damn sexy," he said in a daze. Internally she sighed, sexy was nice to say, but she wanted to be called beautiful.

"Thank you, you're handsome this morning," she said.

"Huh?"

* * *

Sai was sitting in a tree in the early light of the morning, his black coat and pants did not serve as camoefloge against the snow, but he was high enough in the tree that no one would notice him unless they were trained. He was looking over the map of Shijima no Kuni as he tried to figure out how he wanted to approach it.

Tactically speaking, flying in wouldn't be inconspicuous, and he had a feeling that he really wanted to be invisible rather than noticeable. So he was looking for the least noticeable entry points; geographically since he still had no clue what he walking into. There was a sound beneath him which had him looking down, a child was staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Hello," Sai said with his polite smile.

"Whatcha doing in the tree?" the boy asked.

"Relaxing," he answered; he didn't want to say he was doing some mission planning. It was cold and he didn't want people to notice him.

The boy shrugged and walked off, Sai turned his attention back on the map as he read it over. It would be easier if he didn't have to figure out what was going on in Shijima no Kuni. He didn't think he wanted to know what was going on there.

Sighing he decided he'd have to do a high fly over, see the terrain visually to decide his next course of action. He couldn't just walk in there; there were far too many missing shinobi as it were, and he did not want to be added to the list. He'd been missing once before; no one came for him and no one would come for him.

Then again he had been Root at the time, and Danzo burned assets that were captured so fast that sometimes it left people reeling. Root did not teach comradery, no, it destroyed it in the most basic forms and left one alone. Sai sighed; he had people now, he had people who would come looking for him if he vanished. And he had no doubt that Naruto and Sakura; definitely Sakura; would notice if he simply vanished to never be seen again. And Sakura, being Sakura, would raise hell. The people she loved were not to be messed with. Sai had learnt this the painful way with her sweet smile and furious fist to his jaw.

Grumbling he rolled up his map and slipped it in his vest before he pulled out his scroll and ink, infused his chakra into it and leapt onto the bird he had summoned.

It wasn't going to be an easy mission, he knew that, but he was also going to do his best to figure out why the shinobi were going missing. This was important.

Still, he wanted to go home, he wanted to relax, he wanted to talk to Ugly and Beautiful, and he wanted to be… to be content again. Still he flew high over the mountains then.

* * *

Ino had finally ditched Kiba and was now sitting in a room with the Yamanaka elders.

"You want to do what?" the leader asked as they gaped at her.

"The flower shop is a family tradition, I would like to continue it by working there part time, again," she said earnestly; again.

"But… you are the head of the clan and working in Intelligence; you are Morino Ibiki!" the elder exclaimed.

"I know, and there is no reason I should have to give it up, but… I will want and need something no so… torture oriented, to come home to, and I would like to think that to be the flower shop. After all, I am a Yamanaka, and we are not always dark," she smiled brightly.

"We will have to think about it, you are the representation of our clan now," the second elder spoke uncertainly.

"Thank you," she replied earnestly and sat through the next few hours of the meeting in silence. She didn't know what to think of this meeting until it concluded and she was told she was free to have a part time job at her flower shop. She just chuckled, said her thanks and walked up to apartment. Once there she shut the door and noticed the mess that she and Kiba had created.

Sighing she kicked off her shoes.

Why did this all feel… wrong? She wished love and relationships were simple and made sense, then she wouldn't be here pulling out a mop to clean her floor from the dirt she and Kiba had tracked in.

Grumbling she started mopping and wondered why everything had been going so great for her, and now it was all tangled and complicated and messy. She had been doing great after the war; not with her father's death but with life at that moment. Now here she was and she felt like a wreck.

Finishing her cleaning she headed for her shower to take a fast hot one and wised that Sai was here.

She wanted a break, she wanted her life to go how she wanted for once, and she wanted… she wanted to be called beautiful again. No sexy or anything, just beautiful. Stepping into hr shower she disgarded these thoughts as she mentally prepped herself for work tomorrow and to go check in on Tenten.

It'd be nice to be with a friend again.

* * *

She sky beside him explode and he turned his bird in an arch as he pulled his scroll, the brush in his fingers as he created other means of attack. He was used to things not going how they were supposed to go, but this was the second time on this covert mission where he had been attack and he was beginning to think this wasn't so covert as he let the flock of crows attack his persuers as he leapt off his bird in their flurry of momvements and fell for the ground. He landed hastily and looked up; perhaps he should stick to the ground for his travels.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks!**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)**


	42. Part 1: Chapter 42

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 42**

Sai grumbled as he looked over the perimeter again, he had a plan, but he wasn't certain it was going to work. And honestly, he didn't like the feeling he had in his gut that this was a trap. It all felt too set up for his tastes, and while he didn't like that idea, he also knew it was just how this region was set up.

His eyes roamed over the mountains as he looked for a route into Shijima no Kuni, he wasn't finding anything and he had a feeling he'd be circling this land for a bit to find a way in. In a way this felt like a set up, and Sai didn't like feeling like it was a set up. But he had to complete his mission. He had to get in there, and he had to gather the needed intel. The Shinobi Union and Konoha needed to know what was going on in there, because there were too many missing Shinobi and too many coincidences with this land and the missing Shinobi.

A sound caught his attentions as he darted through the forest away from the noise.

Drawing a scroll he let his brush slide over it before he released a horde of his ink creatures to scout the area while he sought out a base for his camp for the night.

If he couldn't fly over Shijima no Kuni then he would find another way into it. And he'd not be caught.

* * *

Ino walked into Inelligence feeling relaxed this morning, she had had a restful night and she had had time to think about her and Kiba, which wasn't something she had wanted to think on but after seeing Tenten and Hyūga Hajime, it was time for her to think it over.

She and Kiba were fun, they were light, and while Ino liked that about them now, she also knew that Kiba and she weren't going to work in the long term. Besides, derogatory dirty talk in bed wasn't her style. Still, she wanted to give them a try, she wanted to try with Kiba, but she was going to have to talk to him about what happened in bed. Not a talk she was looking forward to. Sighing she looked up at the ceiling of the elevator. Perhaps she'd talk to Sakura about this, they needed a girl night anyway. And it was highly probable that Sakura was killing herself with a mountain of work because she felt that the weight of the medical world was on her shoulders.

"Get your head out of the clouds princess, there's work to be done," a sharp voice barked which had her attention being yanked out of her thoughts.

"Of course, sir," she smiled as she offered the other coffee to Ibiki. Her mentor took it and down it before handing her a file. "So what's today dealing with?" she asked.

"That is Tanaka Wakana," Ibiki said and Ino started looking through the file.

"Shijima no Kuni, I've never heard of it before," Ino said as she looked up at Ibiki.

"Not surprising, it's a small nation that's recently been the center of an investigation by the newly formed Shinobi Union, they're suspected in a string of MIA shinobi from the war," Ibiki said as he handed her a list of names.

"All of them?" she asked as she looked through a booklet of names.

"Yes, but we don't know what they're up to or what's going on there, and we have been called in because Kiri caught this one in their lands, and since Kiri's preferred methods are a bit bloodier than approved, she was sent here," Ibiki said.

"I thought you liked the bloody methods," Ino mused.

"Kiri are artists to the bloody method, and I'll have you studying their methods eventually, but the Shinobi Union feels that human rights should matter and since Shijima no Kuni is an unknown, we've been ordered to gather as much intel as we can," Ibiki informed her.

"And who's investigating Shijima?" Ino asked.

"You're Root friend, Sai, he went out a few weeks ago, around the time of the Rinne Festival," Ibiki said as he handed her another file.

Ino just felt her blood go cold at that statement as she looked up to Ibiki then.

"Sai went?" she asked softly.

"Yes, he's done missions like this for Root, that's his Root file in your hand, we also have a feeling that if he receives the intel from you rather than one of the underlings he might be more inclined to believe it and take it into consideration," Ibiki said.

"Alright, who went with him?" Ino asked.

"No one, he went alone, if needed we'll summon the Uchiha for back up but the council wants to keep this quiet. We can't afford a leak to Shijima forces, just in case their ranks are stacked with our MIA shinobi," Ibiki said.

"He's alone!?" she snarled.

"Not our choice princess, he took the mission," Ibiki stated.

"But shinobi never operate alone! Why would he!?" she spat out.

"There are exceptions, prince, shinobi of his particular skills, like the Uchiha are able to operate alone, and they have the mentality for it, it's all thoroughly vetted before people are offered as solo shinobi opperatives, your friend Haruno Sakura is up for consideration for solo ops," Ibiki informed her.

"But!" Ino started to protest.

"No buts, this is just the way of the world, now, Tanaka Wakana is your concern and we need everything out of her head to help your friend Sai so he's not going in there blind, can you handle that?" Ibiki demanded.

"Yes sir," she nodded.

"Good, finish reading, we have a lot of work to do," Ibiki said and Ino resumed her reading as she shoved her worries to the side and tried not to think about Sai out there alone and facing a horde of missing shinobi on his own.

* * *

Sai had made up a camp for himself on the high ground and near a river, and he was currently watching his surrounded territory through the ink animals. There was something eerily silent about this area, all of it. There wasn't a single sound of an animal here, and it was unnerving to him.

Over the years Sai had been accustomed to having animals in his immediate surroundings, birds were a big indicator as to what was going on, and to have nothing to rely on, it was unsettling. He didn't like this silence. He didn't like not having the birds for an indication as to what was going on in the immediate area, but more than that, he didn't like the silence. Silence was a tool for the shinobi, one which he had perfected, but to have no sound surrounding him or there for him to rely on.

It was becoming clear why this place was Shijima no Kuni. As unsettling as it was. Sai opened his eyes as his animals returned and he slowly let his mind settle.

He was alone here. It was unnerving.

There wasn't even an animal den in the immediate area. Sai wondered why that was, where were the animals. Even in Hi no Kuni's forest there were animals, they were everywhere, and here… here he didn't have a trace. Sai didn't like this as he slowly made up his little camp and settled for the night while he mapped the immediate mountains.

* * *

"Hey Babe, how was your day?" Kiba asked, his arm slipping around her waist.

"It was great," she smiled. She knew that Kiba didn't want to hear about her day or what she had done, or the mind she had shredded.

"That's great to hear, hey, I heard about this new restraint, let's try it out," Kiba said as they started walking in that general direction.

"Kiba," she started.

"Hm?" he hummed.

"I was wondering… for tonight, perhaps we could… we could do something else," she suggested which had him stopping.

"What?"

"I just… the other night was epic and everything, but I want to try something else," she smiled. She really wanted to try this thing she had with Kiba but she couldn't do that if they had a repeat of the other night. She wasn't going to take to being called 'my bitch' in bed. It wasn't happening. But she still wanted to try with Kiba.

"Alright, whatever you want babe," he smiled.

"Great," she smiled in relief because she was genuinely relieved that she wouldn't be shot down for trying something else with Kiba. Besides, sex was supposed to be fun, and gratifying, not derogatory.

"Did I tell you how sexy you are today?" he asked.

"No," she smiled.

"But why do you smell like the ink freak?" Kiba demanded sharply and she felt something in her freeze momentarily before she sighed.

"Sai's out of town and I said I'd look in on his place from time to time, and don't call him an ink freak, he's really sweet," she snapped.

"Whoa, I was just asking, I don't like my girl smelling like another dude," Kiba defended.

"Oh, so if I were to come here smelling of Chōji and Shikamaru you wouldn't like that!?" she challenged.

"Hey, I'm just saying that you're my girl," Kiba defended.

"No, you're not, I'm not anybody's Kiba. I belong to me and no one else!" she spat out.

"Would you like it if I smelt like another chick!?" he demanded.

"No, but I also know you have friends who are girls, like Hinata," Ino snarled.

"So if I went and kissed another chick that wouldn't upset you!?" he challenged.

"It would, and I'd dump you!" she snapped. "But I wouldn't be upset about you smelling like another girl when I know you have girls who are friends who you hang out!"

"And you just said Sai wasn't here so why are you smelling like him!?"

"I told you, I'm looking after his place!" Ino growled.

"That doesn't explain why his scent is all over you!" Kiba spat out.

"Kiba," she lowly warned.

"I mean it's everywhere, in your hair, on your clothes, you smell like you slept with him, but I know that you didn't because it's my scent there, still," Kiba stated. Ino reacted the moment he pointed at her womb and smacked his hand before spinning on her heel and stalking off before she shredded his head apart.

Stupid Kiba!

A familiar form caught her eye and she just walked down the alley before she went to Shikamaru, who was walking with Temari, to cry about her problem. Sighing she leant against the ally wall and shakily inhaled a breath as she steadied her trembling bottom lip.

She and Kiba… they could be real, they could be something, but right now she wanted to rip him apart. Stupid boys and testosterone! Honestly, it wasn't like she only had girls for friends! And one of her friends was currently risking his neck out there and he might be killed on a mission no one aside from a few knew he was one, and no one would be any the wiser to his death. And Kiba was acting like she had cheated on him!

Stalking into her apartment she slammed the door behind her before yanking off her coat and scarf and hanging them up. Kicking off her boots she went and poured herself a glass of wine and settled on her couch. Flipping on the television she just mindlessly watched it for a bit; a few hours really, when there was a knock on her door. Sighing she got up again and yanked it open, the scent of hot food filled the air and she stared at Kiba.

"Look, I'm sorry, I just… I don't like you smelling like other guys, truce?" he offered.

"I get it," she lied as she stepped aside and let him in. She turned as a set of lips settled on hers' and all her anger slipped away.

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait between updates here, but I received soul crushing news and I just needed a moment to step back and take a breather before I killed characters in UtDI... because I would do that to relieve some of my anger. Updates might not be fully regular again for a while because of said news, but I will try to keep up with updating here at least once a week.**

 **That's all for now folks.**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble =)**


	43. Part 1: Chapter 43

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 43**

Ino was startled at the elder's summons, it was unusual for her clan elders to summon a meeting with the head of the clan, but she wasn't about to question it as she looked over the demand and sighed.

Her head falling back she closed her eyes as she took a steadying breath.

It was too early in the morning to be handling this shit as she slowly sat up and looked over at Kiba sleeping in her bed. She hadn't had the heart to kick him out after he wrapped her up in his arms and whispered how she made him happy. Part of her had wanted to just boot him out and be done with it but she couldn't. Kiba was trying, and she honestly wanted to see where this thing between them would go.

Focusing her mind Ino projected her chakra as she sought out Ibiki. She'd speak to him before running off to the clan meeting.

He was at his apartment, and Ino was quickly up as she started pulling on her clothes then.

"Ino?" Kiba grumbled.

"Go back to sleep, I have work stuff to handle," she lied smoothly. If she said it was work stuff then she wouldn't have to worry about Kiba prying and poking his nose into her business. He wanted to keep his nose out of Intelligence business if that was even possible. However, the moment she brought up her clan business that seemed to be fair game and she wasn't up for a verbal sparring match with Kiba at this moment as she finished pulling up her hair.

Grabbing her jacket she sauntered out of her apartment as she pulled it on, feeling the smooth feeling of it calm her turmoil over her status with Kiba. Her senses were focused on Ibiki's chakra and she walked through the morning streets of Konoha marveling at the silence of all this.

"Ibiki," she pressed the intercom on his apartment building, there was a pause before the door was buzzed open and she walked. The apartment complex was nice, it was quiet, but she could see this wasn't the best newly built building in Konoha.

"Morning Princess," he greeted when she walked in.

"Morning, I was wondering if you might possibly know why my clan elder have summoned me for a meeting," Ino said as she took the offered coffee.

"What?"

"Yeah, this was on my nightstand this morning and it's from the Yamanaka elders, they only ever summon me when there's bad shit happening in the clan, and with all your connections I was wondering if you might possibly know what has all their panties in a twist," she sighed as she leant back. She couldn't break into another Yamanaka's mind, aside from it going against everything in her clan, it was also nearly impossible. She knew that because her clan was the one to set up minds of the ANBU, so, with that in mind it was not easy to break into a Yamanaka mind. Especially not a Yamanaka elder's mind.

"It might have to do with the influx of new prominent clans coming to Konoha," Ibiki shrugged.

"What?" she blinked.

"Recently the Shinobi Union orchestrated a refuge system for formerly neutral prominent shinobi clans, there's been a massive intake of new clans recently," Ibiki informed her as he looked the note over.

"Well this is the first I'm hearing of it," she grumbled.

"I need you focused on our work, not politics, your clan has been vetting the refugees, I formally had to request you not be involved with any of that with the elders," Ibiki sighed.

"I see," she muttered.

"But other than that, I don't know why they'd want you princess," he shrugged.

"Well, I don't know if I'll be able to come into work with… this, so I've also come to ask if we could have dinner so we could talk over some of the intel I've collected," she admitted.

"That's fine, I'll see you here tonight, Anko will also be here," Ibiki smirked and blushed a bit. Ino just chuckled as she nodded to her mentor before walking out and sighing.

Time to deal with the elders.

* * *

Sai sighed, this was not looking promising, he did not like the thought of taking the pass he had found but he was beginning to think that it was his only option as he looked the map of the mountains he had drawn over. He really did not like this pass, it was a one way in, and one way out pass, but it was secluded and off the beaten trail. None of his patrols had revealed live on the other side of this pass, and he had seen the heavy security of Shijima no Kuni so far.

His head fell back and he quickly decided to send word to someone he trusted about his whereabouts, just in case. Besides, Ugly and Beautiful both might come charging after him if he did not keep some form of contact with them.

Quietly he wrote a cryptic message to Ugly, it was a message she would understand, and then he infused his chakra into it. He was sorry he did not feel comfortable sending a message to Beautiful, but he also knew that she had a boyfriend and it wouldn't do for him to get between her and her boyfriend.

His black eyes watched his black bird as it flittered through the icy winds before he looked back at his camp and sighed. Quickly gathering everything of importance and of use he packed up again. Discarding his unneeded belongs he found his pack weight was lighter, however there was a weight pressing in on his chest as he reexamined all his supplies. He didn't like this, but he also knew that there was no way he could take the direct route to Shijima, more than likely he'd be captured and he didn't like that thought because with capture came torture and he hadn't liked it the first time he had encountered it.

Pulling his pack onto his back he walked towards the direction of the pass as he thought over his decisions for this mission. It was going to take him four days to reach the pass, and perhaps over a week just to get through the pass; especially if the weather took a turn for the worse. Not a thrilling thought, but flying was out.

He wanted to just fly in, but after so many of his inkbirds being shot down, along with real birds, he knew that it was a feeable option. And it wasn't like he knew how to get into this nation through a tunnel or something; else he'd be doing that. So it was through the pass he'd be going.

Sai just hoped to Kami that there wasn't a booby trap of some sort there which would kill him. dying would be unproductive to his mission and it wouldn't do to be dead for his mission. Also, he had a bad feeling that dying would upset Ugly, and possibly Beautiful.

At least he hoped Beautiful would be upset if he perished, he didn't know if she'd actually be sad about his demise though. Before he had left they were friends, even with all the weird feelings he was having about her. though those were only getting worse, he had started dreaming about Beautiful and it was most distracting and unwanted, but not unpleasant. However, his dreams about her were not something he'd ever think about or dwell upon because he did not think it was appropriate to be thinking of a woman friend in a sexual sense; especially when she had a boyfriend.

Sai growled a bit when he sunk in a snow hole and cursed this mission again.

* * *

Ino walked to the elder's home and she paused for a moment as she gathered her scattered thoughts and then shoved her hands in her pockets before walking in. This wasn't going to be a good meeting, she could already sense as much, and she didn't like knowing what she was feeling. It was worrying her what they could possibly wish to talk about and Ino didn't know if she wanted to know what this was about.

"Ah, Ino," the eldest woman, Minako, greeted her.

"Yes," she said tentatively as she slowly took her seat on a cushion and looked at the three solemn elders. "May I ask what this is about?"

"We have summoned you here to discuss the incoming clans," Minako informed her.

"Uh-huh, well, I do not see what I could possibly be needed for if this is a decision was made by the Shinobi Union and the Hokage has approved," she admitted as she accepted the tea she was offered with a polite nod.

"We have summoned you to discuss how we are to keep our interests safe, and the Ino-Shika-Chō abilities secret, there have been several inquiries on if we would be interested in new alliances," Minako said.

"No, Ino-Shika-Chō is a sacred alliance, and we will not be breaking it!" Ino growled lowly. Besides! She had just gotten back her bond with Shikamaru and Chōji, she would destroy any fool who thought to try to break her away from her brothers. The Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clan's bond was sacred, it was special, and it was unique in the shinobi world. The only way it was ending would be with the annihilation with the three involved clans and that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon.

"We believe that our alliance with both the Nara and Akimichi clans is secure, but we have been asked if we would be interested in expanding such an alliance to other clans," Minako said calmly.

"I do not believe that is wise," the first elder, Isamu, stated.

"But it might open up our possibilities because who knows the true extent of our secret jutsu," the third elder, Nabu, argued.

"I disagree," Ino whispered. "Welcoming an outsider in on out clan's secret might prove to be our undoing, Kumo did try to steal a Hyūga, and the Uchiha clan was eradicated, it is vital that we maintain our treaty and secrets. It would not do for us to fall because we trusted strangers."

"Are you not even willing to contemplate that they might have more to offer us than a downfall?" Nabu demanded.

"I do not see any gain from trusting outside, unknown clans," Ino shrugged. Perhaps this was her time with Ibiki speaking, but she was standing by this decision of hers'. She was not going to put her clan in anymore danger because of the unknown after all they had suffered in the war. Some of her clansmen's minds would never be able to be repaired or fixed, or even pulled back together. They had literally ripped themselves apart in their attempt to save their communications in the war so they didn't lose all their troops. She wouldn't endanger them, not now or ever again. And if that made her paranoid then so be it, but the Yamanaka secret jutsu was staying a secret.

"Is it really wise to ignore prospective help and alliances?" Nabu challenged.

"Probably not," she admitted. "But, I do not see any gain in welcoming a possible threat to us in the front door. Let us guard our secrets, watch these outsiders and in a few years perhaps we'll entertain expanding out alliances. I will speak with the heads of both the Nara and Akimichi clans about this, but I believe my friends will agree with me."

"Very well, we will keep our eyes on these new families," Minako decided.

"Thank you, is there anything else?" she asked.

"No, just that we would appreciate you handling the flower shop on your days off, Ko screwed up the ANBU and medicinal orders, we fear the boy is a menace, we ask you to teach him about the shop," Minako sighed.

"I can do that," she smirked.

"Thank Kami," Isamu sighed.

* * *

 **Uh... sorry for the long wait for updates. I'm kind of cursed in the luck department, I have to be, else there's a god out there of whom I've pissed off and he hates me. In my case I can never tell. Oh well, updates are regular again, this weekend I'll catch up all UtDI... Stories and go from there.**

 **That's all for now folks.**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble =)**


	44. Part 1: Chapter 44

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 44**

Ino found that for the most part, January and Febuary were slow. But today of all days she had hope. Don't know why she did, but as she looked at her calendar she awaited the call, or the text, or the knock on the door.

It was Valentine's Day, a day of beauty and flowers, and love, and she was hoping that Kiba remembered.

However, this morning there'd been no call, so she had dismissed it and gone to work at the flower shop since it was her day off. He didn't drop in before lunch either; though the civilian front of the business was booming today as she made several lovely flower arrangements and planned on a possible surprise lunch. Kiba didn't show, Ino bit her lip and told herself to calm down, she doubted that Kiba could have forgotten about Valentine's Day, but she wasn't going to stress it yet. Perhaps he had plans, something nice for dinner.

Ino didn't stress it as she walked through her afternoon and smiled at frazzled, worried men. Dealt with men who were planners, last minuters, and the traditionalist, it was a good day for laughs and Ino was really glad to not be working in Intelligence today. However as her day continued to slip by she bit her lip at not seeing Kiba, at all, even as the day came to an end and she was closing up shop.

"Night Ino!" Ami, a girl from her shop, smiled as she waved.

"Night Ami!"

"Be careful, it's a busy night tonight!" Ami called out as her boyfriend appeared to pick her up and Ino sighed as she continued her lock up. She wasn't trying to be disappointed, no, she was trying hard not to be hurt that today of all days Kiba hadn't shown hide nor hair of himself.

Walking up to her apartment she decided she would look nice for if Kiba showed up and had plans today. It seemed like a good plan when she walked into her apartment, kicked off her shoes and pulled her heavy hair down. Stripping she tied her hair in a messy bun atop her head as she turned on the shower and walked out in a robe.

Rummaging through her closet she settled on a purple dress and looked it over carefully before nodding, then picked out lingerie before walking into her bathroom again. Dropping her robe she cleaned herself as she whispered to herself that Kiba hadn't forgotten about today.

No doubt that if Sai were here he'd remember today and he'd be in a frenzied panic for it because it was an important holiday for love. Ino didn't doubt that as she tilted her head back and thought about her past month. It was tiring, just exhausting, but she was managing it. She was feeling good about as she cleaned herself off, stepped out of her shower, and started getting ready.

It was about an hour after primping and smoothing out her dress, inspecting her reflection and making her assets look gorgeous that she smiled.

Whatever Kiba had planned would be good; else she'd break him.

There was finally that knock on the door she'd been awaiting and she walked over with her heels in hand before she opened it and smiled at Kiba, her heart didn't flutter, and she didn't feel that spark anymore, but she was hoping there was something more there.

"Wow, babe, you're hot," he let out a low whistle and she stiffened.

"It's Valentine's Day, any plans?" she hummed.

"What!? It is!? I… no, I didn't even notice that it was that day," he said and Ino stiffened.

"Kiba, we've been dating for about four months now," she started softly. "I haven't been a child about this relationship and made us celebrate monthaverseries, and or demanded you take me to dinner, or anything from you really, I haven't been demanding, I have tried not to be high maintenance, and we have a good time. But today is Valentine's Day!" she roared the last bit and saw him glare at her.

"Big deal!" he spat back.

"Valentine's Day! Love! Couples! Good dates! Fun!" she shouted. "It's a day to show you care! I've waited all day for a call, for a message, to hear that you bought me flowers, to see that I matter to you a you took time and effort to make something about today special!"

"You didn't say anything about that!" he shouted back. "You don't say anything! I'm always guessing! And if this day is so fucking important why didn't you call me!? Why am I supposed to be figuring all this out!?"

"Kiba! I told you two weeks ago about Valentine's Day! I've been bugging you about it for a week!" she spat back.

"Don't start with subtle hints!"

"Kiba! I'm talking about telling you that I wanted to do something nice today!" she shrieked and he snarled lowly.

"Ino, I'm tired of your fucking games!" he growled.

"I'm not playing games, I listen to you, I make dates for you, I let you in my bed, I just wanted one day where you tried to do the same! Valentine's Day! I wanted flowers, a nice dinner, a movie and then we could have sex if you wanted! I just wanted a nice day with my boyfriend since he doesn't seem interested in that stuff anymore!" She yelled and Kiba opened his mouth to argue but she silenced him as she continued.

"No more sex until you start trying again," she spat and slammed the door in his face before she threw her shoes at the wall and slid to the door Kiba was pounding on. Ino just sighed, why was her relationship with Kiba so damn tiring? Standing again she walked to her kitchen and ignored Kiba's shouting as she opened her fridge and pulled out the bottle of red wine she'd bought last week for today.

Well, she was just going to enjoy it on her own.

Fuck Kiba.

* * *

 **Hey... Long time no update... So, I have a legitimate reason for my lack of updates aside from Murphy's Law ruling my life.**

 **I sent off three of my books, a few months back, and I've received two rejection notices so far. Yipee!? Rejections are both good and bad, so... I'm not certain how to feel about this. Anyway, I'm awaiting my third rejection notice, working on another book to submit for publication (which will probably be rejected), and I haven't been having a great life at the moment, making me busy. Sorry for the lack of updates, but we're getting regular again! =)**

 **That's all for now folks.**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble =)**


	45. Part 1: Chapter 45

**I Do Not Own Naruto**

 **Chapter 45**

Alright, it might have been a bit excessive to be dodging Kiba for ten days, but Ino was tired! Kiba couldn't seem to understand the difference between a relationship and fuck buddies and Ino was tired of it. So she'd started staying at Sai's, after all Sai had given her the key.

Jogging up the crummy steps to Sai's place Ino unlocked the door as she walked in and shut it. Dropping her coat she started pulling her hair down and stripping; she'd taken to stealing Sai's shirts, they were comfy. Once she was comfortable she sat on the counter with a sketch book of Sai's and started flipping through it. She wanted to talk to Sai, she wanted to hear him, she wanted to have him there to consult with because Sai, for as dorky and socially inept as he was, was really good at advice when it counted.

Sighing she fell back on the counter as she rubbed her eyes, and tried to clear her exhausted mind. She'd been dealing with a shift at the flower shop, she'd been picking up odd shifts at the hospital, and she'd been working full time with her clan and Intelligence. She was exhausted, and it was a good way to keep her busy and away from Kiba so she didn't murder him.

There was a pounding on the door which had Ino sitting up as she sighed.

"I'm coming," she called out.

"Ino We Need To Talk!" Kiba shouted. Groaning she unlocked the door and looked at him, Kiba shoved his way in then.

"Kiba!" she shouted.

"Where Is He!?"

"Who?"

"The Ink Freak! You're Sleeping With Him!" Kiba accused.

"What!? No I'm not! And Sai isn't here! he's been gone on a long mission!" she snapped as she followed Kiba through the place.

"Bullshit, you smell like him!" Kiba hissed.

"Yeah, I've been staying here," Ino snapped. Kiba turned on her and his eyes narrowed behind her.

"You Lying Bitch! You Let Him Paint You!" Kiba shouted and he lunged for the paintins.

"What! Kiba! No! Yes he's used me as a model but he's my friend!" Ino shouted as she chased Kiba who grabbed the painting which he'd seen first and ripped it in half. She froze, her eyes wide as she covered her mouth, Kiba then viciously started attacking the paintings.

"Stop it Kiba!" she cried out as she dodged the flying paintings and there was a sketchbook in Kiba's hand.

"I Can't Believe You! I Fuck Up One Little Thing And You Run To Another Guy!" Kiba shouted.

"Kiba! Stop It!" she screamed as he started shredding the sketches which weren't of her but of Sai's friends, his team, his brother. She tried to grab the book from him.

"And What's This!? A Nursery Book For Your Kid?" He snarled and she froze seeing the book, that was Sai's book for him and his brother.

"Kiba, please, please put the book down," she whispered.

"You Know I Tried Everything I Knew To Be Good Enough For You! The Princess Of Konoha Agreed To Date Me!" Kiba shouted. "But I Guess I Meant Nothing To You! You Run Away The Moment I'm Not Good Enough! Come Running To The Ink Freak!"

The tear of the book was the only sound in the apartment of fluttering papers, and Ino felt the tears well up as she stared at her boyfriend in horror.

"How could you…?" She whispered. Kiba blinked at the book in his hands, she snatched it from him with full force, he came at her she turned as she used her family's jutsu and sent a crippling scream in his head as she grabbed her coat and ran. She was sobbing but her feet carried her to the one place she was certain she could go to before she collapsed and she pounded on the door desperately.

"Sakura!?" Ino called out, she was too tired to use her chakra to see if Sakura was home or not, but Kami could she use a friend. The door opened and Ino found herself looking at an exhausted, wet, racoon eyed Sakura. Ino felt her lower lip tremble as the tears filled her eyes again.

"Oh Kami! Ino! What happened!?" Sakura gasped.

"I just… I…" the sobs hit her then and she couldn't breath as she sobbed, Sakura's arms were around her and she felt herself being pulled into the apartment.

"What happened Ino?" Sakura demanded when they collapsed on the couch.

"I was… Kiba and I… we had a fight!" Ino sobbed and she couldn't seem to stop the hysterics as she clutched the book in her fingers tightly and tried to calm down, but she couldn't. She couldn't calm down, she could barely breath.

"What!?" Sakura demanded.

"I was at Sai's place, and I was, Sai gave me a key, offered it as a place to rest, and Kiba… Kiba came over and he was pissed but also he started… He Started DESTROYING Sai's Paintings!" she sobbed as she hugged the and rocked herself as she tried to calm down. She couldn't breathe, she honestly had no idea what had triggered Kiba's rage, and she just… she didn't know what to do!

Sai was never going to forgive her! And his brother's book was destroyed! And everything was a mess!

"Oh Kami," she heard Sakura whisper.

"I tried to stop him but- but he was just… just so mad! I didn't know what to do, and I couldn't get him to stop! He accused me of sleeping with Sai and how I was being a horrible girlfriend, and how I was supposed to be his. And how Sai shouldn't have been painting or drawing me and he just… he lost it!" She cried.

"Ino," Sakura hugged her.

"Sai was a good friend! And that was it! And I just… I couldn't stop Kiba, I grabbed this and ran because Kiba was going berserk!" Ino wept, and Sakura gingerly took the book she held.

"Oh Kami," Sakura repeated softly.

"I just… all those paintings!" Ino cried as she hugged Sakura.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks.**

 **Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble.**


End file.
